Liberation
by Lich00
Summary: What would happen if Kerrigan infested another Powerful Psionic but failed to implement the Hive Mind? Join Ellie as she discovers that maybe the Zerg aren't the monsters everyone thinks. Takes place during both Campaigns with side stories.
1. Awakening

**Unlikley Ally**

Ellie was in full blown panic mode. She had just woken up in some kind of fleshy sack. It was warm and made her feel sleepy but she was to busy freaking out to want to nap. She quickly went over what she knew.

She had been right outside her home when something had hit her head and she had blacked out.

Wherever she was it was not safe.

Something was reaching into the sack with nearly half a dozen spindly arms.

Wait… What?!

She grabbed the arms and pushed them back. Then she saw her arms. They were covered in a brown scale like chitin that was fashioned into her skin like armor. Looking down her body was covered in the material and she was sure her head was as well. She gripped her head and screamed for help as something smashed into the side of her head.

Jim was staring down at the Hyperions star map when a scream ripped through his mind. He had a brief flash of a young girl trapped then his vision went black.

When he woke up Matt Horner was standing over him with a concerned look.

"Are you alright commander?" He asked.

"No. Something just hit me like a ton of bricks. I got a Psionic message from someone on that planet." Jim said getting to his feet.

"From a Zerg?" Matt asked skeptically.

"No more like a half baked infested. She was just a kid. But she still had her humanity from what I felt." Jim said.

"Sir, maybe you should go see Stetman." Matt said worried.

"No. Matt I know what I felt. Zeratul and Tassadar taught me how to protect myself from and to understand Psionic pulses. She's still Human where it counts." Jim said tapping his head.

"The men won't want to go on such a vague mission. Especially to rescue an infested." Matt told him.

"Then they don't have to. I'll take Tychus. If I'm not back in a day then assume I'm dead and glass the Zerg." Jim said heading to the hangar.

When they arrived in the hangar suited up Swan had gear ready for the duo.

"Alright Cowboy. Here we have a .50 cal chain gun for Tychus. Plus plenty of grenades." Swan said giving Tychus a massive gun and a metal pack.

"And for you, a modified Ghost Rifle. Penetrator Rounds, self reloading clip system, hell I even installed a grenade launcher on this thing. Just make sure you come back alive." Swan said.

"Will do Swan. See ya in the cantina after all this is over." Jim said with a grin.

Planetside…

Jim and Tychus found the Hive Cluster easily. The world they were on had thick forests which made finding the Zerg simple. It was a surprisingly small but heavily fortified Cluster. An ultralisk patrolled around the chrysalis while a wall of Zerglings and Hydralisks stood at the edge of the cluster.

"Well Jimmy, that looks like a lot of damn Zerg. Though with this baby the only thing we have to worry about is that Big Ass Ultralisk. You think that Rifle of yours can even scratch that Monster?" Tychus asked.

"Hell yes. These Penetrator rounds are designed to go through anything. If you can keep the smaller Zerg off me then I'll bring it down." Jim said unfolding the modified rifle.

"Then let's get to it. You watch my back when you finish that monster." Tychus said stepping into view of the Zerg.

The heavily built Marine unloaded on the Zerg while Jim lined up his shot. When the sights were lined up on the Ultralisk's head he pulled the Trigger repeatedly. Massive holes appeared in the Massive Zerg's head and it attempted to charge towards its attacker but stumbled and collapsed dead. Then Jim began firing into the Zerg Ranks until the horde was a mass of twitching corpses.

They walked up to the Chrysalis and Jim took out a Machete. He sliced the thick shell open and a young girl tumbled out gasping and vomiting alternately. Her eyes were cloudy and covered by a thick gel. Jim knelt down and scooped her up and she stared up at him as they ran back to their shuttle before the Hive Cluster could produce more troops.

"Who are you?" The girl asked weakly.

"Jim Raynor. Don't worry your safe now." He said even though he knew it wasn't quite true.

"Raynor?!" She was suddenly very active as she slipped out of his arms and tried to escape the ship.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried.

"Your a terrorist! The Emperor says that you kill loyal citizens! Please don't hurt me!" She said cowering.

Jim and Tychus stood in silent shock then Jim made Tychus man the Cockpit.

"Girl, just so you know. Me and my boys, do not harm civilians. Also you might want to look yourself over." He said brushing the gel from her eyes.

She stared down at her body which had Zerg plating over most of her arms and legs. Her hair was made of the same segmented dreadlocks that Kerrigan had, except that hers were black rather than brown. Her chest had resisted infestation more and she still had her skin rather than Zerg chitin. Her T-shirt was still covering her upper chest though the sleeves were ruined and the Zerg gel she had been submerged in had eaten holes through it in places. Likewise her jeans were still mostly intact except for the bottoms which looked like they had been through a shredder.

"Wha…? How…?" She asked in a state of shock.

Kill them… a voice whispered in her mind.

For a second she almost obeyed then she stopped and forced the voice from her mind. Jim was still kneeling over her shaking her shoulder when she looked over at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked staring her in the eye.

"Of course I'm not! I've got Zerg running through my system! I'm a monster." She said quietly eyeing Jim's pistol.

He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"You are not a monster. If you let the Zerg control you then you would be a monster. Your still you, right?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Then your not one of them." He said.

She just stared for a few minutes then tears started rolling down her cheeks and she curled up against the wall. Jim sat next to her until they arrived in the Hyperion. When they arrived many of the Raiders were waiting in the Hangar. Jim and Tychus escorted the girl through the hangar as the crowd watched in near silence. Finally someone spoke up.

"Hey girl! You okay?" A marine asked as she walked by.

She shook her head and stared at the floor as she continued walking next to Jim.

"Alright all of you! Back to Work! We have a job on Monlyth." Jim yelled at the Raiders as they exited the hangar.

Jim brought the girl to the Bridge while Tychus headed for the Cantina. When they arrived Matt Horner stood at attention and watched her with a scrutinizing eye. What he saw was a terrified girl who was confused and on edge.

"She shouldn't be here. She needs to calm down or do something to take her mind of what's going on." Matt whispered to Jim.

"Like what? How do you propose I make her forget that she was just infested?" Jim hissed back.

Matt walked over and kneeled down next to the girl.

"Hi I'm Matt Horner. What's your name?" Matt asked kindly.

"Ellie. Ellie Sindar." She said.

"Alright Ellie, where are you from?" He asked.

"Meinhoff. I was going home from school when something hit me. Then I woke up down there." Ellie said pointing at the planet below them.

"Well I am very sorry for what happened to you. If you want we could take you home…" Matt said realizing as he said it that he had made an error.

Ellie laughed and she was genuinely amused. She gripped her sides and quieted down.

"I can't go home. Not like… this." She said holding up one of her clawed hands.

"Well maybe we can send your family a message. So they at least know that you are alive." He said.

She perked up at that and immediately thought about it. She moved her hands up and down as she weighed the pros and cons.

On the plus side, her family would know that she was alive and relatively safe. On the other hand they would probably freak out that she was infested and in the presence of the most wanted man in the Dominion.

"Can we do that?" She asked.

Matt nodded and asked her for her families information as he punched it into the ships computer. Less than half an hour later Jim and Matt were facing the screen with her parents on it.

"Your Jim Raynor!" Her father yelled in shock.

"Yeah I am. Listen closely Mr. and Mrs. Sindar. We found your daughter earlier today. She would like to speak with you." Jim said as he stepped aside so Ellie could speak.

She faced the screen and her parents gasped as they saw her hair and arms.

"Ellie what happened? Are you safe? Are they holding you hostage?!" Her mother shrieked.

"No mom! Calm down, okay? They rescued me. Apparently I sent out a Psionic cry for help and Jim came to save me. I was being infested by the Zerg." She explained and she noticed that her teeth were pointed now, it felt strange now that she was talking.

"The Zerg?! But there are no Zerg on Meinhoff! And why would the want you?!" Her father demanded.

"I think I know why. Go into my room and lift up my Mattress." She said.

Her father disappeared and she reassured her mother that she was fine. A minute later he returned holding a stack of papers.

"What are those dear?" Her mother asked.

"A very inappropriate magazine." He said and Ellie shrugged." And… and Ghost Academy Acceptance letters. Your Psionic abilities were extremely high." Her father said reading her scores.

"They needed someone like me. They were going to try to make me like the Queen of Blades." She said realizing this herself.

"Is Raynor still there?" Her father asked.

Jim stepped back into view.

"Mr. Raynor-"

"Call me Jim." Jim said.

"Very well. Jim, I thank you for rescuing our Daughter. As much as I wish she could, I know she cannot return to us, at least for now. Even if we do not object to her… changes, the dominion would drag her off for study or worse. Please keep her with you at least until we can be with her again." He said.

Jim nodded and Ellie said goodbye to her parents. When the message ended Jim looked down at her.

"Ghost… huh? So what were your Psionic levels?" He asked.

"When they had me release it… it was a class Ten…" She said squirming slightly.

"But?" Jim asked sensing the hesitation.

"But I was holding it back. I lost control once and blew up a big area. No one was around then but I didn't want to hurt anyone when I was being tested." She said quickly.

"Okay then. We have a device down in the lab that can measure your level without a demonstration. Stetman! Get the Psi analyzer ready!" Jim ordered a very skinny man with thick glasses and a lab coat.

"Yes sir! Right away!" The nerdy man said quickly.

"Psi Analyzer?" She asked.

"Something the Protoss left me when we destroyed the Overmind." Jim said.

"Sir, brace for warp." Matt said.

Jim gripped the rail and Ellie followed suit. Less than a minute later they were flying through warp space. Ellie watched the light and planets going by through the window. Jim and Matt smiled at her excitement. Then Stetman called up from the lab and Jim took her below decks.

"So what's this analyzer like?" She asked much more open now that she knew she was going to be staying here for a while.

"It's just a headset. I've used it myself. I scored at a Class 3. No special abilities but I can sort of sense powerful Psionic creatures. Zeratul hated that." Jim said with a laugh.

"Zeratul?" Ellie asked confused.

"He's an old friend. A Protoss Dark Templar. Though I haven't heard from him since the end of the Brood War. Hope he's okay." Jim said as they entered the lab.

"Ah sir. While I was powering up the Psi Analyzer I though we could run a few tests to determine what Zerg genes are in her. It might give us a few clues about what she can do." Stetman said tripping over a loose can.

"Well ask her yourself." Jim said.

Stetman looked at Ellie eagerly. She shrugged.

"But Jim does the needles. No offense but you seem like a bit of a Klutz." She said.

"Good call." Jim whispered.

Stetman smiled then gestured to a chair like you would see at a dentist. Ellie sat down and Stetman placed a strange gold and crystal headset on her head. Then he walked over to the computer and punched in a code. She felt a slight spark then the machine hummed and glowed. A few seconds later the humming stopped and Stetman stared at the screen mouth open.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"Uh Commander? We upped the scale to fifteen when Kerrigan was infested and she is currently a class 12. This…" Stetman just stared at the screen.

Jim walked over and whistled. He turned the screen so Ellie could see. A large fourteen blinked on the screen.

"So what I'm stronger than the Queen of Blades?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah. That may be why you can resist the hive's control. Though you can't control that energy so don't think you could take her in a fight. She had years of Ghost Training and she's had a few years to learn to control her new powers. Now let's get your medical tests done and go get you some food. I'm sure your probably hungry." Jim said.

Ellie realized she was hungry she just hadn't noticed because of everything that was going on. Jim and Stetman took a few blood samples, X-Rays and DNA samples then she and Raynor headed to the Cantina.

They found Tychus in a bar fight with some guy over a spilled drink and Jim stepped in.

"Alright you two what's going on?" He asked.

"Well Tychus says I have to pay because his drink spilled."

"Well did you spill it?" Jim asked.

"No sir."

"Tychus quit trying to get free drinks." Jim said pushing Tychus.

Unfortunately Tychus was drunk so he fell over and got back up pissed.

"That little runt owes me a drink and he knows it. Outta the way Jimmy." Tychus growled.

"Now Tychus-" Jim was cut off as Tychus charged.

Ellie reacted from years of standing up to bullies for her friends. She stepped in front of Tychus and leaned her shoulder into the Marines chest plate. He stopped instantly and bounced off her. The cantina guys stared at her with awe. She shrugged as she walked over and looked down at Tychus.

"Wanna try that again?" She asked.

"You are one dangerous kid. Glad your on our side." Tychus said.

After that Ellie ate three meals and listened to Tychus and Jim going over battle plans for 'collecting' the Protoss Artifact from Monlyth as they analyzed a map on a hologram projector.

"Why can't you just ask them for it? I mean you said you were friends with the Protoss." Ellie suggested.

"Not these guys. They're religious fanatics and even if they weren't this is some Xel'Naga stuff. No Protoss would just give this up." Jim said.

"Well then, it looks like there is a Zerg hive here. So they will most likely attack the Protoss, right? If you set up a base here then you could push through and push your way through to the Artifact while the Zerg and Protoss fight each other." She suggested.

Jim thought about her strategy and agreed.

"Okay that works but how did you learn to plan a battle? What are you like fifteen?" He asked.

"I'm seventeen actually. And I wanted to join the Ghost Program since I was a kid. So I studied up on battle plans and strategy while my friends went shopping and went on dates. I guess that life is out for me now." She said glumly.

"Hey now, you can still be a hero. Matt has some ideas on how to expose Mengsks true colors. You can help if you want." Jim said.

"Really?" She said excitedly.

"Yeah. We can train you in the physical, weapons, hand to hand area. But we need someone who can teach you how to use your Psionic powers. And we need Stetmans data to figure out what you can do. For now you can help coordinate our assault with me on the bridge." He said getting up.

"What about me old buddy?" Tychus asked.

"You stay here. Just don't cause any more trouble." Jim said.


	2. Planetary Defense

**Planetary defense**

Jim sat in his chair on the bridge. The surface team had recovered the artifact and were on their way back but they had lost quite a few good men even with Swann's new Marauders. As he was thinking the star map lit up with a transmission.

"To anyone hearing this… we need help… Zerg… invading… colony… Dominion abandoned… Agria." The transmission said.

Ellie listened to it.

"That sounded like Doctor Hanson." She said.

"Friend of yours?" Jim asked.

"Kind of. She visited the outlying worlds like Meinhoff sometimes to give check ups and help with diseases. We didn't have total dominion support on our world." She said.

"Well we should go help her. Sounds like her Colony's in pretty bad shape. Matt once our boys arrive set a course for Agria." Jim ordered.

"Yes sir." Matt said as he walked over to the control crew.

"Commander! The test results are in!" Stetman said excitedly as he burst onto the bridge.

Ellie and Jim followed the Doctor as he rapidly explained the test results in scientific terms that neither of them understood.

"Alright, so basically I isolated what strains have taken hold in certain parts of your body. For example, your arms exhibit primarily Ultralisk strains. And based on the X-Rays you have an extra set of bones Similar to the Ultralisk Kaiser blades within your arms. If you wanted to you could cut them out and extend them from your wrists and use them like swords.

"Your legs show strains of Zergling adrenaline glands to heighten your combat ability, and a modified Ultralisk strain to make Your armor lightweight to keep them in good running condition but also provide defense. Your feet are not especially armored like the Queen of Blades so you won't permanently be wearing High Heels."

"Is that all?" Ellie asked.

"No. Your entire body is infused with the Regeneration strains of the roach but amplified a few dozen times. You could lose a hand and it would grow back within a few days. Also the strains that altered your hair and your head, they are unique to the Queen strain. They give you the ability to generate Zerg Larvae and weave your own strains. Though I wouldn't recommend trying that unless you were on a world where there were no other life forms. And finally you have the basic Zerg genes that allow for space exposure. Not travel through deep space but you could stand on the hull of the Hyperion and be fine." Stetman said.

Ellie had progressively been overwhelmed by the amount of information and had instead focused on what Sterman said about arm blades. She focused and a one and a half foot blade shot straight out of her arm next to her wrist. She grabbed the blade and found that she could either keep the joint rigid or loosen it and fold the blade back along her arm. When it was folded back it resembled an arm guard.

"That's cool." She said.

"Yes now just so you know, from my estimates, you should still be connected to the Zerg Hive Mind. I believe that if you could learn to use your Psionic power you could separate yourself from them entirely. By the same coin if you were unconnected to the hive, then any Zerg that you created would also be free from the Hive. In theory you could create a colony of free Zerg." Stetman said excitedly.

"Whoa whoa, calm down boy. I'm not creating ANY Zerg. At least not unless we truly need me to." Ellie said with a small laugh.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." Jim said patting her on the head.

"Also sir the artifact fragment you collected on Monlyth seems to be reacting to the one from Mar Sara." Stetman said activating the console containing the artifacts.

The three of them studied the artifacts as the strange objects spun around, connected then broke apart once again.

"It looks like they fit together like puzzle pieces." Ellie said.

"Exactly. And their is a form of radiation coming off of them that is harmless to humans but if you were a Protoss it would drain you of all your power pretty quick. I already tested one of Ellie's DNA samples near them, nothing happened but I assume it might weaken your Psionic powers when you are near it." Stetman said.

Ellie shrugged. She didn't feel any different so she assumed his theory was wrong. The ship lurched suddenly and Matts voice came over the intercom.

"Attention all raiders, we have arrived at Agria prepare to defend from the Zerg." He said.

"That's our cue. I'll be going planet side for this one. You stay here." Jim said.

"What?! But Doctor Hanson-"

"Might not react very well to your new appearance. Just stay on the ship and help Matt keep us updated on the Zerg forces." Jim said firmly.

Ellie sighed but obediently went to the Bridge and stood next to Matt. The captain smiled as she trudged in.

"He ordered you to stay here?" Matt asked.

She nodded still fuming.

"It's not that he doesn't trust you or whatever excuse he gave you. It's just he's seen a lot of people die because they tried something they couldn't do or because of his orders. He wants to make sure you can handle yourself before you get sent into a fight like this. Now let's get the scanners up and running." Matt said trying to cheer her up.

She sighed but walked up to one of the chairs on the bridge. Many of the command crew were absent because it was nearly midnight on the ship. So it was Matt, Ellie and two other crew members manning the comms and scanners. When Jim was on the ground with a group of Marines, Marauders and Firebats they began relaying enemy positions and movements. Ellie soon found herself struggling to keep up with the amount of information.

"Jim, something is approaching from the east. It's bio signature is massive. Even larger than an Ultralisk." She said into her comm.

"How long until it reaches our position?!" Jim yelled over gunfire.

"If it continues at its current speed, less than ten minutes." She said.

"Damn it. Send a message to Swan to send in troops in drop pods. I think I know what's coming." He said.

Ellie looked over at Matt who was occupied with his own group. She took off her headset and sprinted off the bridge. When she got to the hangar she found Swann waiting for her.

"Hey Princess, I thought I'd be seeing you. I rigged this up for you. Modified it from Ghost Tech. Should give you some better protection than regular clothes." He said tossing a combat suit at her.

The suit was essentially a ghost Eco suit without the headgear, sleeves or lower leg coverings. She slipped it on over her clothes. Then Swann pointed to an unmanned Drop pod and she jumped inside. The pod dropped out of the ship and plummeted towards the surface. Ellie had never been in a drop pod and she hadn't exactly realized how terrifying the experience would be. On the way down to the surface she felt like the small pod was going to rip apart. When she finally landed she stepped out and fell to her knees then threw up. A minute later she was on her feet and heading towards the colony. 


	3. Acceptance

**Acceptance**

**Okay so as a frame of reference, I will be basing the size of the Zerg on how they appear in relation to other units within cutscenes, for example, an Ultralisk is able to crush a Siege Tank under its foot and a leviathan is the size of a moon. Zerglings are about the size of medium dogs and Hydralisks are roughly eight feet tall based on a comparison to the average marine.  
**  
Jim was used to fighting massive Zerg. He had faced an Ultralisk with only a sniper rifle only a few days ago. Still even he was in shock t the monstrosity towering over him. The Brutalisk looked as though it didn't seem to care about the Terrans and was solely focused on destroying their command center. It batted aside the Firebats and Marauders with barely a thought as it skittered towards the large building.

Jim lined his rifle up with its head and let an entire clip of slugs batter its head. The massive creature looked over at him in annoyance and started approaching. Then something small slammed into its legs and it fell sideways, crushing trees and cracking the pavement on the road. Ellie stood in between the monster and Jim, staring at it with a mix of fear and excitement.

"Jim! Get the colonists moving! I'll keep this big guy busy!" Ellie yelled as she leaped onto the Brutalisk's head.

Jim was furious and terrified but he did get the colonists moving. He stayed behind and aimed his rifle at the Monstrosity before him.

"What the hell are you doing here?! Your gonna get yourself killed!" He yelled.

"Oh I'm sorry for saving your ass cowboy!" Ellie yelled as she leaped onto the Brutalisk's back.

She ran up it slicing as deep as she could while trying to get to the beasts head. She never made it as the massive Zerg knocked her off and was about to smash her into the ground when Jim shot its face again. The monster glared with its eye and charged towards him. He rolled right under it and ran over to Ellie.

"Get out of here!" Jim yelled as he yanked her to her feet.

She didn't respond but stared at the Brutalisk and her eyes glowed a bright neon green. She raised her hands and the massive Zerg floated in the air. Then she twisted her hands as if she was wringing a cloth. The Brutalisk twisted until it snapped in half and immediately stopped its struggling. The two halves of the beast fell onto the road, creating a crater in the pavement. Ellie smiled then fell backwards and her eyes rolled back into her head. Jim sighed but picked her up and began jogging towards his dropship.

Later aboard the Hyperion…

Ellie was sitting in the corner of the bridge while Jim and Matt stared at her intently.

"What you did was extremely reckless, dangerous and irresponsible. You could have gotten yourself killed!" Jim yelled.

"Oh but taking on a Brutalisk by yourself is okay? If I hadn't gone you'd be dead." She mumbled.

"I had back up on the way!" Jim yelled.

"Not quick enough was it?" She grumbled really not liking this 'talk'.

"Ellie you need training before you step on the battlefield. You even admitted that you had no idea how you used your powers." Matt said sternly.

Ellie sat silently. She had admitted that…

"We need to find someone who can teach you to control them. Once you learn that much then maybe we can let you onto the battlefield." Matt continued.

At that moment the bridge doors opened and a Middle aged woman in a lab coat walked in. Ellie immediately recognized her and tried to hide in her corner, it didn't help that her iris' now had a permanent green glow. Jim and Matt walked over and shook her hand.

"So Dr. Hanson what brings you aboard the Hyperion?" Jim asked nonchalantly.

"Well I was originally only coming aboard to thank you in person. But I noticed that your science and Medical expertise are very… lacking." The Dr. said trying to be nice.

"Ouch, well are you offering suggestions?" Jim asked.

"Actually I was going to offer to stay…" She trailed off as she saw Ellie hunched in the corner.

"You keep Zerg on your ship? Isn't that dangerous?" Dr. Hanson asked.

Ellie had been staring at the floor but now tears started welling up in her eyes. She stood up quickly and sprinted out of the bridge so fast that no one noticed she had left until the doors shut.

"It's loose! shouldn't we…" Dr. Hanson stopped as she noticed the looks from the crew.

"Dr., it might be best if you sit down." Matt said as Jim went off after Ellie.

Ellie was sitting in the cantina watching the first floor with minimal interest. One of her arm blades was out and she carving lines into the handrail. Swann was watching her carefully while Tychus acted as a bouncer and prevented anyone from going up to her. Jim arrived a few minutes later and sighed as he saw her.

He did not need this right now. He did not need a depressed teenager with the powers of a God. He did not need to be remedying her problems. He had to be out putting the hurt on Mengsk or protecting civilians. Still… he couldn't just leave her. She was like that little sister he never had.

So he went by Tychus and leaned on the rail next to her.

"Hey." She said without looking.

"You alright?" He asked.

"How can I be? I look like a nightmare child. Anyone other than you guys thinks I'm a monster. Even some of your guys think I'm gonna go all berserk on them." She said flipping her arm blade around so it lay flat against her armor like skin.

"Well you gotta cut them some slack. A lot of these guys have lost family and friends to the Zerg. So looking the way you do… well they just need a lot of time to warm up to you." Jim said.

"Yeah. If Kerrigan doesn't take over my mind and turn me into her puppet. Or worse if the infestation spreads. That would suck." She said rubbing her shoulders.

"Well you held it off this long. And you knocked Kerrigan out of your head. I don't think she'll be to eager to try again after that. She may be Zerg but she's still smart enough to realize that would be stupid." Jim said.

"Ha funny. Huh? What's that?" Ellie asked looking at the Tv screen tuned to the UNN station.

"Hey Swann! Turn it up!" Jim called down.

Swann obliged and everyone went quiet.

"-Thanks Donny. I'm on board a Dominion Rescue Ship and we've been given exclusive footage of some of the battle on Agria." Kate Lockwell said as the screen changed to a very familiar settlement.

The Brutalisk entered the camera as the Colonist's transport was leaving and the footage showed Jim staying behind to distract the monster. Then Ellie entered the scene and when the picture was clear it froze.

"Now we had experts analyzing this footage. They have confirmed that this is not the Queen of Blades. This is an Infested Human but look at what she is capable of." Kate said.

The footage resumed and showed Ellie ripping the Brutalisk in two. Then the picture cut back to Kate.

"Now the big question is this: Is she with the Zerg or us?" Kate asked.

"Thank you for that Kate. So to wrap up here, Do we have a new Queen of Blades?" Donny asked before it cut to commercials.

Ellie collapsed back into a chair and sighed. Jim threw up his hands.

"So the dominion wants to make you look evil. They do the same thing to me." He said.

"Yeah but you don't bear a striking resemblance to Humanity's most hated enemy. With Zerg Hair, I look almost exactly like Kerrigan in the face. My teeth are sharpened points, my hair is chitinous dreadlocks, I have glowing eyes, and now the news announcers are calling me a 'copy of the queen of blades'. Face it I'm never gonna be accepted by the greater part of humanity." She said.

"No you won't. But you are a part of us. And you'll always have a home here." Jim said.

The door to the cantina opened and Dr. Hanson walked in accompanied by Matt. She walked up to Tychus who stood in her way refusing to let her pass.

"Sorry Doc but she don't want to see ya. Told me herself." Tychus said.

"It's okay big guy. Let her up." Ellie said tossing down a bottle of beer for him.

"Much obliged, sweetheart." Tychus said finding an empty table.

Dr. Hanson walked up to the small landing and when she saw Ellie she gave a small jump.

"H-hey Doctor Hanson." Ellie said with a nervous wave.

"Hello Ellie. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was very rude." The doctor said with a small bow.

Ellie was trembling and she was so busy staring at the ground that she didn't notice the Doctor approaching until she felt the older woman's arms around her.

"You poor child. I'm so sorry for what you had to go through." Doctor Hanson said rubbing Ellie's head softly.

Ellie felt herself tearing up. The Raiders weren't big on emotional outbursts so she hadn't let out her feelings once since she had arrived on the Hyperion. Now she was balling into Doctor Hanson's coat. She felt small, scared and very much alone. Now she vented all those feelings and sobbed soaking the lab coat.

When she finally stopped crying she looked up at Doctor Hanson and dried her eyes.

"Sorry about that. I soaked your coat." Ellie said embarrassed.

"It's fine. Now I would like to give you a physical check up. Just to be sure your alright. I don't trust the 'scientist' on this ship." She said reverting to doctor mode.

"Okay." Ellie said following her to the lab.

She gave Jim a thumbs up on the way by and he smiled.

When they had left Matt smirked.

"You know, since she's part human and Part Zerg, it's almost like she's your kid with Kerrigan." He said.

Jim punched his arm but he didn't deny it.


	4. Overload

**Overload**

**I did not mess up on someone's dialogue btw. I tried to write it how he would talk. I don't know a lot about the ghost program so don't hate me if there are incorrect facts in here. Also Trying to Put Pen to Paper has pointed out that my story up until this point is similar to his. So go give it a look. And sorry about the long no update period, I've been busy and I've been trying to iron out the next chapter. That one might be a little while but until then here ya go.  
**  
Down in the lab Ellie was sitting on a table in her underwear while Doctor Hanson measured her heart rate and blood pressure.

"You know, my refugees are heading to Meinhoff. I could probably sneak you in for a few days at least. You could see your parents. Maybe we could disguise you and you could even see your friends." Hanson said.

Ellie looked at her with surprise.

"I do listen when you tell me things. Like that boy… what was his name? Ryan I believe?" The Doc said as she took a small syringe of blood.

"He wouldn't like me anymore. Not like…this." Ellie said running her finger along the edge of the chitin on her stomach.

"Do I sense a love story?"

"We went to one dance! And we um… sorta kissed… but then I got kidnapped." Ellie said.

"Well do you at least want to say goodbye? I could disguise your hair and as long as we keep your arms and legs covered, no one would be be able to tell. Here." Hanson said tossing a pair of what looked like rubber gloves to her patient.

"What? Gloves?"

"Just put them on." Hanson said.

Ellie did and she found that her hands looked normal. Well mostly. Around the knuckles they sagged a bit but other than that they looked human.

"What are these?" She asked.

"Prosthetic covers. We give them to people who have mechanical prosthetics to make them appear normal. I'm sure I could make a few for you." The Doctor said.

"Thank you Doctor. But why would you help me so much?" Ellie asked.

"I lost my parents and older brother when I was a little girl. I never got to say goodbye. I want you to at least have that chance." Hanson said.

"I'm sorry." Ellie said.

"Don't be. I should be able to have a disguise ready in two weeks. We'll head over to Meinhoff when I get it ready okay?" Hanson asked.

"Yes ma'am." Ellie said happily.

After finishing her check up they returned to the bridge to find a strange man with Dreadlocks on the holo screen.

"So do we got a deal Mistah Raynor?" The man asked.

"We got a Deal Tosh. But don't forget your end of the bargain. I'll send her over when we arrive." Jim said closing the transmission.

"What was that about?" Ellie asked.

"Well I found a guy who can help you learn to control your powers. But I don't exactly trust him to be alone with you. And we have to mine a bunch of dangerous Jorium Crystals for him. I'll send Tychus with you. As backup." Jim said.

"When do I start?" Ellie asked.

"Tomorrow. So you better go get some rest."

With that Ellie left the bridge and headed to her quarters. Quietly celebrating she was so excited.

Her excitement died down when she her training ground. Redstone was a place of Zerg. Nothing else would ever want to live there. And her training ground was in a cluster of islands that the lava didn't reach. Tychus didn't seem very interested in much aside from watching holos and occasionally glancing up to make sure Ellie was still there. Her teacher was a tall dark skinned man with Dreadlocks and white eyes. He carried a modified Ghost Rifle and he wore a strange suit.

"So you be the infested girl? I can feel your powah. But you don't have any control. It just pours out'o you but it doesn't do anyting. I see why Raynor wants ya ta control it. The name's Tosh." He said.

"Can you teach me?" She asked.

"Of course I can. Let's start with someting simple." He said picking up a rock.

"Stop this." He said tossing it at her.

She tried and failed to stop said rock and she ended up with quite a few bruises. Finally she managed to stop it and Tosh smiled.

"Good now move it." Tosh said.

Ellie focused on the rock and slowly made it rise. Then suddenly the rock flew back into Tosh's hand.

"You have the power. Don't force it. Just imagine it." He said throwing the rock.

Ellie stopped it again and instead of focusing intently she simply pictures the rock rising and it floated up easily. She made the rock orbit her hand and smiled at the small control she had.

"Okay. Now throw it telekinetically." Tosh said scratching a crude target into a boulder with his knife.

She focused on the center of the target and willed the rock to hit it. The rock flew towards the target and hit a bit below the center.

"Keep trying that. No breaks until you can hit it at least seven outta ten times." Tosh said leaning against a rock and dozing off.

Ellie spent the next three hours psionically throwing rocks until she had a perfect streak of forty. Then she started running back and forth until she could consistently hit the target. When she was able to do that she sat down and took a breather. Tosh woke up a few minutes later and looked over at her practically glowing with satisfaction. Then he saw that her eyes were indeed glowing and they were getting brighter and brighter. He tried to get close enough to stop whatever was going on but the Psionic energy ripped through his mind leaving him only capable of watching whatever was about to happen. Ellie finally noticed something was wrong and clutched her head as the energy built up in her mind. She made all the rocks in the area levitate and tears started falling to the burning hot ground as the pain started in her mind. She fell to her knees and reached out for a way to expend the energy. She found her answer in a mountain sized floating rock in the lava. She focused on the massive chunk and lifted it with her mind. Then she sent it flying into the atmosphere. After that she collapsed onto the ground. Tosh ran over and checked her pulse while Tychus trotted over and pointed a gun at the Specter's head.

"You better not have killed her. Jimmy would be mighty upset." The criminal said.

"She merely exhausted herself. Something was messing with her mind. That buildup wouldn't have happened otherwise. But I need her awake ta find the source. So we have ta wait here." Tosh said.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go watch ya. Don't try anything." Tychus said.

Tosh sat next to the unconscious girl. This was more than he had bargained for.

**Okay so I have a "storyline" setup. Pretty much that means I have an end result but I'm still working out how to get there. All of the missions from the campaign will be at least mentioned and some will be different than what they were in the game for the sake of plot and just general sense. Seriously why couldn't they just leave Meinhoff to the infested? Anyway expect updates to be a bit more… common for this story. I'm really into it since LotV is supposed to come out within the next year so yeah.**


	5. Liberation

**Liberation**

Tosh stood on the bridge of the Hyperion discussing his theory with Jim and Dr. Hanson.

"If I'm right then we could wipe out da Zerg for good." He said.

"Tosh this is risky. We have no way to know if what your suggesting is possible. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before." Hanson said.

"I've done it. I lost a few of my men to infestation. I snapped them out of da Hive Mind. Widout a higher power dey were mindless and didn't do nothin. And she already pushed Kerrigan outta her head. She can do tis." Tosh said.

"Fine let's say that she can do what your suggesting. How do we implement it across an entire planet? Wait a year for her to shatter the connection in every Zerg?" Jim asked skeptically.

"No see, dis world be to far from Char for da queen to control. So she be needin Broodmothers to look over da swarm. If she can break into da Broodmothers mind then she could sever dem all at once. Effective and powerful. Dey would be uncoordinated and attack each other. Easy pickings." Tosh said.

"But it still remains to be seen whether she could even assault the hive mind. Something like this goes beyond our knowledge of Psionics." Dr. Hanson said.

"I don't think that even the Protoss have tried something this crazy." Jim said.

"Dey didn't have someone wit ta powers of a god. If my hunch is right den we could save many of ya soldiers Mr. Raynor." Tosh said.

"And if it's wrong then we're stuck fighting an entire brood of Zerg. But I see your point. When the Zerg go Feral they'll attack anything even each other. I saw a lot of that after Tassodar killed the Overmind." Jim said.

"We have got ta try it. I found a world that we could do a test run on. It's got a small Zerg population and a Brood Mother. Now would be the ideal time ta strike." He said.

"Shouldn't I be a part of this conversation?" Ellie asked as she stepped onto the bridge.

"Yeah. I thought you were still passed out?" Jim asked.

"Just woke up. Stetman told me what was going on. And I think I could do what Tosh is saying. Mental drills were the one thing my mom taught me back home. That's why I could drive Kerrigan out." Ellie said.

"Then you want to try?" Dr. Hanson asked.

"Yeah. Only bring a few guys with me and we should be fine. I can burn 'em out if things south." Ellie said.

"Alright then. Tosh give the planet coordinates to Matt. We'll head there right now." Jim said.

Later… on Zessia

"Ya sure about this Jimmy? I don't like puttin our lives in the class of the little Zerg." Tychus said.

'Well Tychus you can always wait on the dropship if you're scared.' Ellie said telepathically.

"Okay that makes me feel better." Tychus said.

Ellie turned to face her entourage which was composed of Jim, Tychus, Tosh, two Hammer Securities Marauders and Dr. Hanson with modified Medic equipment.

"Alright I want all of you to stay back. If I approach alone the Broodmother might be more inclined to come forward." Ellie said.

"It's your call. We'll come runnin if you get into trouble." Jim said.

"Alright. Um… Jim could I talk to you in private for a second?" Ellie asked as they landed.

The two of them walked a ways off from the group and Jim looked at her.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I'm going to try something. It's risky and the odds of it working are astronomically low. But if it works it could be really great." She said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"If I told you then you would freak out. Just… wait for me to signal you before you attack. If my plan works we might be able to leave without firing a single round." She said.

"Alright. But if things go south then we're blowing this place to hell." Jim said.

"Yeah." She said walking towards the Hive Cluster.

When she was a few hundred feet from the Hive she reached out with her mind and shouted through the Hive Mind.

"I wish to commune with the leader of this Brood. Bring her Forth." Ellie said trying to sound intimidating.

A few minutes later a Brood mother started walking towards her. The creature was nearly ten feet tall and she looked down at Ellie with orange eyes.

"You are the failed experiment of the Queen. She ordered you to be destroyed." The Brood Mother said.

"Try it." Ellie said amplifying her Psionics.

"Why are you here? We are not important to you."

"I have a question. Do you like being under Kerrigan's command?" Ellie asked.

"I do not like taking orders no. But she is the queen she controls us all. We cannot oppose her." The Brood Mother said.

"Did she even give you a name?" Ellie asked.

"…No."

"Did you decide on one for yourself?" Ellie asked.

"No. Zerg do not name themselves."

"If I gave you the power to be rid of the Queen of blades and control this Brood yourself would you take it?" Ellie asked.

"But if I do not serve the Queen what is there? Nothing but death."

Ellie held out her clawed hand and the Brood Mother took it. Ellie sent every memory, every feeling she had ever known into the Brood Mother. As she did she severed the Brood's connection with the Queen of Blades. After a moment the Brood Mother stared down at her.

"You… what did you do?"

"I showed you what it means to live. And spread it to your Brood. They aren't mindless slaves anymore. I… I didn't mean for it to go that far." She said.

"Zerg know nothing of what I saw. We never knew… What was it you said earlier? Oppose her? No. We must defeat her. She knows of these things and hides them from us?! She must be destroyed so that the Swarm may be freed."

"Then you will help me?" Ellie asked.

"If you will have us. I feel that my Brood will follow you as well. Though you need a name to call me by… Alestra. That will do." The Brood Mother said.

"Very well then Lady Alestra. So begins the Zerg Rebellion." Ellie said.

"What of your Terran allies? Will they allow this?" Alestra asked.

"I think they will." Ellie said placing her fingers to her temple.

'Jim, come her but for the love of god don't shoot.' Ellie said telepathically.

Jim walked over with his gun leveled at the Brood Mother the whole way.

"Jim, this is Alestra. I um kind of made the Zerg Sentient." Ellie said awkwardly.

"You mean… they all think for themselves?" Jim asked.

"Yes James Raynor. We understand what it means to truly live. We will not simply be killing machines with expendable lives now." Alestra said.

"Will you still kill Terrans?" He asked.

"Only if we are attacked first." Alestra said meeting his gaze.

"Then we have no quarrel with you. Ariel is going to have a field day with this." Jim said.

"Yeah I know. What are we going to say to them. Tychus is so trigger happy he might attack them anyway." Ellie said.

"Maybe we should just bring Tosh and Ariel over. The others can wait on the ship." Jim said.

"Yeah. I'll get them." Ellie said calling them over.

When Dr. Hanson arrived with Tosh she stared at Alestra with angry but curious eyes.

"Before you make any comments, I have many of Ellie's memories. I know what the Swarm did to your colony. I can do nothing but apologize at this moment." Alestra said.

"What did ya do girl?" Tosh asked still gripping his rifle.

"I made the entire Brood Sentient. I gave them my memories. Made them realize there is more to life than mindlessly killing." She said.

"So you aren't going to attack us?" Dr. Hanson asked.

"Not unless you attack first." Alestra said.

"Dis is amazin. Zerg wit sentience." Tosh said shocked.

"So you won't destroy them?" Ellie asked.

"No way. If they aren't going to then they're civilians. I'm not going to be a murderer." Jim said. "That said if they want to help us fight the swarm…"

"Yes. I cannot speak for all of my people but I will oppose the swarm. Though it may be a good deal of time before I can do that." Alestra said.

"If you will at least say you'll help. That's enough. I guess this would be the first Zerg Terran alliance in history." Jim said.

"Yes. What will you do now?" She asked.

"Well I believe we were going to Meinhoff. Ellie wanted to see her family. Will your people be fine without the hive mind?" He asked.

"James Raynor. Just because we have left the swarm, does not mean we do not understand how to hunt. If you return in one months time we will be settled in I am sure." She said.

"Then we'll leave you to it. Just don't make your presence here known. Anyone else who found you here would almost certainly try to destroy you." Jim said.

"Of course. We will see you again James." Alestra said as the Terrans departed.

**So I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. This is... Version 6 of this chapter. It took me a long time to come up with an idea that satisfied me for this chapter. Not to mention the fact that my ipod which I use to write all my stories got wiped. Also I wanted to ask if anyone would help me think of an idea for a name for the newly freed Zerg Brood. They are going to be… very different in a few chapters. See you soon.**


	6. Waking Dreams

**Waking Dreams**

Ellie was extremely excited until the arrived in orbit above Meinhoff. When she saw her home world and the Zerg creep spreading across it she was stupefied. She collapsed into one one of the chairs on the bridge and held her hands against her head.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked.

"Jim. Someone's been blocking communications from the planet for the last few days. The infestation has spread to 78% of the planet. If it spreads at the current rate the entire planet will be over run in the next two days." Matt said reading one of the monitors.

"We won't let that happen. Locate the area with the highest concentration of survivors. I'll take some of our boys and establish a base." Jim said.

"What about...?" Ellie asked still in shock.

"You take a group of our boys down there and get your parents and friends. Then come meet up at our base. Alright?" Jim asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ellie snapped back to her usual self and nodded as she ran to the hangar. Swann was waiting with a Dropship.

"Alright Princess. I stocked this baby with all the supplies you could need. I even put your own Decals on it." He said pointing to an emblem on the ships wings.

She looked it over. It was green and black and had a Zerg skull with wings coming out from behind it.

"Made it myself." He said.

She gave him a high five as a squad of infantry (Reapers, Marines, marauders and Firebats) entered the hangar. They boarded Ellie's ship and she sat in the pilots seat. A visor came down over her eyes and a virtual image of Swann appeared.

"Listen up I modified this baby to read your thoughts so you can do all those fancy maneuvers that Banshees do. Just imagine the ships path and it'll get ya there." He said.

So Ellie imagined the ship taking off and exiting the hangar and the ship followed the course in her mind. Soon they were cruising above the surface nearing the city where she grew up.

"Alright boys. We'll be stopping by the school first. Captain Horner picked up human bio signatures inside. You all set up a perimeter and I'll go in to get them." She said over the intercom.

"Uh are you sure that's a good idea? Looking the way you do you might just scare them." One of the marines said.

"I'll be wearing my helmet. Plus my suit covers everything else. Here we go." She said as they landed in front of her old school.

It was a two story building and it branched out to form a square encircling a courtyard. The cafeteria was in the back forming another square. All in all it looked like a giant 8. Which is where it got its nickname. School 88.

"I'll go in. You all set up a defensive line. If I run into trouble then I'll contact you." Ellie said putting on her Spectre Helmet.

"Aye aye. You heard her boys." One of the marines said.

Ellie left them to sort out the details while she went inside. She had been here just a month ago. Taking classes, joking with her friends, going to dances… but all of that was a lifetime away now. The classrooms were empty and some had blood staining the floor. She didn't see any infested but she kept her guard up. As she walked the through the hallway leading to the cafeteria she noticed sounds coming from up ahead. Crying, someone yelling orders? How many people were still here?!

She opened the doors to the cafeteria and was met with half a dozen rifles pointed at her head. She resisted her instinct to attack and held up her hands instead. They took away her rifle and lead her through a crowd of maybe fifty kids to a blonde haired boy with dark gray eyes. Behind her helmet she grinned.

"Who are you? What does a Dominion assassin want with us?" He asked.

"Is that how you treat your girlfriend? Ryan Jeane-James Lewis?" She asked.

He was so shocked he fell backwards. No one but his parents and Ellie knew his second middle name. He leapt up and wrapped her in a hug.

"You came back. But how did you get here? Why? Can you at least take off the helmet?" He asked.

"My own Dropship. I came to get you all and my parents. And no I will not take off my helmet at least not in front of everyone. Somethings are better left unseen." She said.

She opened her comms and an image with Swann on it came up.

"What's up Princess?" He asked.

"I'm gonna need another two transports. I've got about fifty civilians here." She said.

"Alright I'll send'em down. And here's the coordinates for Jimmy's base." He said as he cut the line.

The coordinates appeared inside her helmet and she saved them to her suits memory.

"Alright. We need to get these people outside. I've got two transports on the way and we won't be able to avoid the Zerg detecting us for long." Ellie said.

"Got it. Alright everyone we've got a way out of here! Follow the combat squad and meet up out front!" Ryan yelled to the crowd.

There was much cheering as the group exited the cafeteria. Ryan and Ellie supervised and soon they were alone except for the group who had surrounded her when she first entered.

"So you recognize your boy but not us? Typical Ellie..." One of them said.

She looked at all of them and saw her old friends, albeit a bit leaner and meaner with a few more scars. Melanie the mother of their little group, Beth a big heavily muscled girl with a huge heart and Zach a quiet kid who was a genius. She wrapped her arms around all of them and smiled.

"I'm so glad you guys made it. Where'd you get the guns?" She asked.

"Well let's just say the Dominion could only retreat so fast. By the way, what made them come back?" Melanie asked.

"Actually I'm with Raynor's Raiders. They rescued me after I got kidnapped. After what I've seen the dominion do I would never work for them." Ellie said angrily remembering Agria.

"You were kidnapped?! By who?! Why!?" Beth asked angrily.

"I'll… explain later. Let's just say lots of people want my power." She said as she heard the ships landing outside.

When they got outside they found that the evacuation was going pretty well. Almost half of the civialians were on board and Ellie's guys were holding the line. But there was a Zerg… creature heading their way. It had four legs a humanish head and weird sac things on its back.

"Anyone know what the hell that is?" Ellie asked.

"We got word from the base. We're calling them Zerg Abberations!" Someone yelled over comms.

Ellie frantically looked around but nothing they had would bring that monster down quick enough. She sighed as she ran towards it. She leaped into the air and charged psionic energy in her fist. When she made contact with its face she released the energy explosively. The result was the creature literally exploding bit by bit. When she returned to her friends she was covered in Zerg blood.

"So let's get out of here?" She asked.

They were staring at her dumbstruck. She ordered her troops to get on with the civilians and took her ship into the air.

"This is all yours?" Ryan asked entering the cockpit.

"Yep. My own personal ship. I'm kind of like a junior officer for Jim. Still in training though." She sighed.

Soon she landed the ship in front of her house and she wasn't surprised to see a pile of Zerg bodies on their front lawn.

"What the hell? Who did this?" Beth asked.

"My dad I would guess. He wasn't just a grumpy old man. He fought in the brood wars. My mom was a Ghost and he was a Goliath pilot. They wouldn't go down easy. What about your dad Ryan? What did he do?" Ellie asked.

"Vulture Biker. Speaking of which… I'll be back in a few minutes. Gonna go get something." He said heading across the street to his own house.

"You three stay here. If you hear anything strange do not come inside. Understand?" Ellie asked.

They nodded but she knew they were lying. She headed inside and looked through the rooms one by one. When she got to her bedroom she found it was untouched by the carnage. She found the dog tags that her dad had made for her years ago and slipped them around her neck. Then she continued her search. Finding nothing on the first floor she headed into the basement. Once she was down there she flipped on the light and was faced with her worst nightmare.

Her parents were infested.

**Dun-dun-dun. So yeah. New characters. They will be major characters so at least remember their names. This is the point where the story starts to get changed so be ready. **


	7. Waking Nightmare

**Waking Nightmare**

Ellie stood facing her parents. Her father was so far gone Ellie only recognized his clothes. His face was misshapen and severely altered by the infection. He was facing her mother and growling.

Her mother had glowing orange eyes and looked more like Kerrigan or Ellie than a typical infested. She looked over at Ellie and smiled.

"Welcome, upstart." She said her voice sounding unnatural.

Ellie tried to break into her mothers mind and free her from the swarm but she met resistance like an iron wall. She knew the feeling.

"Kerrigan." Ellie growled.

"Oh? You figured it out that easily? How cute. This is only fair. You took an entire brood from me. I'm only returning the favor." Kerrigan hissed through her mother.

"Give me back my home!" Ellie screamed as she tried to break Kerrigan's control.

"I think not. You are weak, undisciplined and naive. Did you think that I would just let you take Alestra's brood without any repercussions?" Kerrigan asked.

Ellie growled but didn't say anything.

"So you really did? Ha. I have other matters to attend to. Have your parents back." Kerrigan said.

Ellie's parents looked around for a moment, dazed. She felt hope for about two seconds before they charged her. She held up her arms to defend herself and she was sent flying by a blow from her father. She gripped her mothers arm and tried to break the hive mind but met Kerrigan's wall of energy. Tears streamed from her eyes as she overloaded her mothers body with energy. The corpse fell to the ground, smoking. Then she stood up and extended her arm blades. She stabbed her father in the face and again in his heart. He fell backwards gasping for breath. She finished it by slitting his neck and she stood there covered in blood staring at her parents. Her arm blades were covered in her fathers blood and she tried rubbing it off in a state of extreme shock. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she scratched at the blade. Melanie found her in the same state ten minutes later when she entered the basement. When she first saw Ellie she had to stifle a scream. Then she saw the state her friend was in and remembered the seemingly useless emergency training that they had been given nearly a year ago. Mel approached Ellie slowly and started talking.

"Ellie? Can you hear me?" She asked cautiously.

Ellie showed no sign of acknowledgement she merely continued sobbing. Melanie crept closer until she was standing right next to her friend. She ripped a piece of her sleeve off and used it to wipe away the blood. Ellie finally seemed to notice her and she hid her face and backed away.

"Mel! I…" She said timidly.

"You're infested." Mel said crossing her arms.

"Y-yes." Ellie said.

"How long?" Mel asked.

"W-what?" Ellie asked highly shocked by her calm reaction.

"How long have you been like this? And are you still you?" Mel asked.

"Since I went missing. A few weeks. And yes, I am me." Ellie said showing her face.

"Prove it." Mel said holding out a fist.

Ellie smiled as she placed her palm against it and they grabbed each others hands. Then Mel smiled.

"Only you were that stupid. Didn't know what a fist bump was." She said laughing and wrapping Ellie in a hug.

Ellie grinned to herself and kept her tears from starting again at the acceptance from her best friend. When Mel released her she was still smiling.

"I knew your parents were lying about you getting accepted into the ghost academy. You would've ran over to our houses before you left. So you're a Zerg?" Mel asked.

"Kind of. Raynor interrupted the process. So instead of a new Queen of blades they got me. Free will, human emotion, absolutely no formal combat training. And of course my Psionic power." She said frowning as she saw her mothers corpse.

"So you were kidnapped by Zerg, partially infested, rescued by the most wanted man in the dominion, then came home to find Meinhoff like this. I've been taking tests and doing homework. So one question, are we still friends?" Mel asked.

"Of course! I mean unless you don't want to be… I am kind of half Zerg." Ellie said retracting her arm blades.

"Well, you never were normal. Remember when we were little? You would accidentally levitate objects. Like the bus." Mel said chuckling.

"Yeah. Thanks. Just one thing I need to do." She said pointing two fingers at her parents bodies.

There was a spark and the bodies caught fire. Mel gasped.

"Why would you do that?" She hissed.

"Two reasons. One, my parents wouldn't want to be transmitters for the virus. Two we can't bury them. There's nowhere around here that we can." Ellie replied.

"Alright then. Are you ready to face the others?" Mel asked.

Ellie nodded.

On the way out she stopped in her parents room. A family photo was framed on the night stand. She folded it and tucked it into her pocket. She also reached under the bed and found a long rectangular box that had a bloody handprint and claw marks on it. She opened it and pulled out her mothers Ghost Rifle. She had fired it once as a child and broken her arm. Now it was as light as a feather. She strapped it onto her back and took one last look around the house. Then she headed outside to where Mel was waiting.

When Beth and Zach saw her they pointed their guns at her and only Mel stopped them from pulling the trigger.

"You've got thirty seconds." Zach said.

"I was infested nearly a month ago. I-I put my parents down. It was to late for them." She said.

Mel pointed her own gun at Zach and eyed him menacingly.

"Put it down. It's her. I checked." She said calmly and coldly.

Zach lowered his gun and Beth did the same.

"So… we've been hanging with an infested girl. How?" He asked with angry eyes.

"I was taken by the Zerg. When I 'went to the academy' according to my parents." Ellie said.

"Huh. Ry is going to love this." He said.

He and Beth went into the ship while Mel and Ellie waited outside.

"He's always been paranoid." Mel said.

"Yeah but he's what most people will act like. The raiders trust me because I saved Jim. Tosh trusts me. Dr. Hanson does to. That's about it though." Ellie said.

"Then don't give them any reason to shun you. You are the second Infested Terran who can think for themselves. Don't shut yourself off from everyone." Mel said.

"I've tried Mel. Not everyone is accepting as you." Ellie said running her fingers through her tendriled hair.

"You got the raiders on board, didn't you? And Dr. Hanson?" Mel asked.

"Well yeah. I helped them. But what about the dominion? What about them? I don't want to be hunted for the rest of my life!" Ellie yelled.

"Well if the Raiders get there way, the dominion might not be around much longer." Mel said calmly.

"Yeah right. They don't have the men, tech, resources… all that stuff. To get at Emperor Mengsk's palace, they'd need a massive army. Though, Jim does seem to have a personal vendetta against Mengsk." Ellie said.

"Well maybe we'll find out why. So why do you look like that, El?" Ryan asked as he rounded the corner.

"I-uh… well…" She stumbled over her words and gibberish came out.

Mel held up her gun.

"You don't seem awfully surprised by this. How come?" She asked.

"Well, I do believe that she would usually take off her helmet when meeting us, unless she was hiding something. And I could see bits of her hair sticking out near the neck. I suspected that might be the case. You're not the only smart one, Mel." Ryan said.

Ellie ran her fingers through her hair and silently regretted not finding a way to shorten it. Ellie explained everything that had happened to her since her disappearance while Ryan listened without displaying emotion or any hint of his opinion. When she had finished he walked over and wrapped his arms around her. She started crying and he chuckled.

"Don't shake to much. I might cut myself." He said as one of the spikes on her back scratched his arm.

"I'm sorry." She said weakly.

After a few minutes they finally separated and entered the dropship. Ellie sat in the pilots seat checked the com network and faced the others.

"Alright. Jim has a base set up only a few miles away from here. We are heading there to help them. We can't leave the planet right now because the Zerg have set up Spore Cannons that would shoot us down if we tried to. They already lost a colony ship." Ellie said somberly.

"Why don't they just bomb the hell out of the cannons?" Beth asked.

"We don't have a lot of funds. Our tech is kind of lacking at the moment. The most we have for aerial tech are Dropships and the Hyperion. A few dominion units might be on world but they would never work with us." Ellie said spinning in her chair and taking off.

When the Base came into view, the sun was sinking down below the horizon. From the cockpit Ellie could see the infested moving inside the buildings and even some Zerg milling about.

"Jim you there?" She called on the comms.

"Ellie? Thank god. Are you seeing movement out there?" He asked.

"Yeah. I've got four civilians who have been fighting the Infested for the past few days. They could help you out." She replied.

"I'm an expert at fighting the Zerg. What's different about these four?" He asked.

"For one they are my friends. Second, there are some new types of Infested. I'm landing outside your Command Center now." She said.

As she landed, spotlights turned on all around the base, illuminating a few hundred feet in every direction. The five teens got off the ship and walked into Jim's command Center.

"So what new types of infested?" He asked.

"Well, Aberrations, Phantoms, and Shriekers are the ones we've seen. Those things are nasty." Ryan said.

"What? I need to know what they do, what they look like." Jim said.

"Aberrations are really big, they have four spider like legs and their eyes glow. Phantoms look like normal infested but they have a deformed arm that evolved into a blade. We call them phantoms because they can cloak like a Dominion Ghost. Shriekers are heavily armored infested that will stand up to an unbelievable amount of gunfire. We had to drop a dumpster on one to stop it last time." Mel said.

"Interesting. You four stay here and manage communications I'm going to figure a way off this rock. Ellie, Tychus and Tosh are at the eastern entrance. Head over there. That's where the majority of the Infested have been coming from." Jim said.

"You got it. I'll see you later guys." Ellie said as she slung her rifle over her shoulders.

She found Tychus smoking a cigar while leaning against one of the Bunkers that the Scv's had put up. Tosh was watching for movement from on top of the structure.

"Bout time you showed up kid. You get anyone out of the hell hole?" Tychus asked.

"This 'Hellhole' is my home planet Tychus. And yeah I got two transports full before those cannons were up. And watch it. My friends said that a few of these things could cloak." She said.

"So what happened to ya parents? And where did ya get tat rifle?" Tosh asked.

"Later. I don't want to talk about it now." She said looking through the rifle scope.

"Well I guess we have to get to work. I see something movin around out there." Tychus said.

Ellie and Tosh looked through their scopes to see a small group of Infested shambling towards them.

"I see half a dozen. Anymore?" Ellie asked.

"No, aim for the head and take these out quickly." Tosh said letting loose a shot and downing one of the infested.

Ellie lined up her shot and fired but it only grazed her target.

"Lean into the shot. Steady the gun, girl!" Tychus yelled.

Ellie obeyed and her next shot found its target. Within a minute the two snipers had downed the infested and were reloading.

"Everyone, this is Dr. Ariel Hanson. We only have to defend ourselves at Night, the majority of the infested are vulnerable to the high UV output of Meinhoff's sun. They burn in the sunlight. Once the sun is up again we can try to destroy the Spore Cannons surrounding the base. By my estimates, we have six hours until the sun is up again. Until then we have to hold out." Ariel said over the comm channel.

"You heard the Doctor. If it looks like your position is in danger of being overrun broadcast it and we'll deploy as many reinforcements as we can spare. Good luck, Raiders." Jim said.

"So we are reinforcements?" Ellie asked.

"You bet your pretty little Zerg Head it does." Tychus said.

"You really think I'm pretty?" Ellie asked.

"Not a chance." Tychus said blowing out a cloud of smoke.

Ellie's eyes glowed dangerously and she turned to see a group of infested stepping into the light. She charged towards them during her rifle into them and missing most of her shots but once she reached them she extended her arm blades and began cutting them to pieces.

"Good work Tychus. That should keep them busy for a little while." Tosh said.

"If theirs one thing I know how to do its piss people off." Tychus said.

"On dat we can agree." Tosh said as he began firing into the mass of Zerg.

After nearly an hour of melee carnage Ellie was forced to retreat due to exhaustion. She stumbled back to Tychus and Tosh. Tosh held her up and the marines in the bunkers began firing into the Zerg horde.

"Come on boys! Only five hours left until sunrise!" Tychus yelled as he brought up his mini gun.

Ellie spent ten minutes recovering and then she was back up and firing into the Infested. Eventually the bodies began to form a wall that blocked the center passage and the infested were forced onto the sides of the road where they were easy to hit.

"Let em through so we don't clog up the gaps!" Tosh yelled.

"Aberration!" Ellie yelled as a gargantuan Zerg stepped over the smaller infested.

"Bring it down boys! Ellie aim for the head!" Tychus roared over the gunfire.

Through a barrage of bullets they ripped the monster to pieces and the corpse crushed a large group of infested.

"Ellie! A group of Shriekers just broke through the western Barricade! We need you over there before they get to the transports!" Mel yelled through the comms.

"I'm on it!" Ellie shouted back as she ran through the base.

She found the Shriekers easily as they were screaming their heads off. They were disfigured and only looked human in form. They saw her and immediately ran towards her. She emptied into ones… face? But it kept coming and they started clawing at her. One sank its spiked teeth into her arm and she gasped as blood gushed from the wound. With her free hand she gripped one of the creatures and fried its body Psionically. It cost her more injuries but she eventually subdued the rest. Once they were taken care of she looked down to find her arm had stemmed most of the bleeding though it still hurt like hell.

"Shriekers are dead. Where do they need help?" Ellie called on her Comms.

"The Northern front is being pressured- what was that- never mind just a stray bullet. Head up to the far barricade." Mel said.

"Got it. God that hurts!" She hissed.

"You okay?" Mel asked.

"Yeah one of those things ripped my arm open with its teeth. It's mostly healed up but it hurts really bad." Ellie said.

"As long as it's not as bad as what happened to Rick. It got him right before we killed it. That was nightmare fuel." She said.

"I can imagine. You guys okay?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, Ryan and Zach are on the sensors providing intel to the soldiers. Beth is relaying information between Jim and the soldiers." Mel said.

"Well looks like we might make it through tonight. Two hours right?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah. Sunrise in one hour and fifty-two minutes." Mel said.

"Good. Call me if anything comes up." Ellie said as she arrived at the northern Barricade.

The infested were ten feet from the bunkers and gaining ground. Ellie holstered her rifle and extended her arm blades. The blade from her injured arm hurt but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind.

"Raiders! Finish off the group closest to you! I'll hold them back." She said as she leapt into the mass of Zerg.

The next time the marines saw her she was covered in blood and a mound of bodies surrounded her. Her arms and legs were raw. Her suit was ripped and torn and her face was host to many cuts.

"Ellie! Get back another wave is coming!" One of the marines yelled.

"She needs a medic!" Another yelled.

She began stumbling back towards the barricade and only a few feet from safety she collapsed, unconscious, on the ground and threw up. A medic ran up and dragged her the rest of the way while the marines kept the infested at bay. The medic began cleaning out her wounds and trying to remove anything from them. Once that was complete most of her wounds were closing up and she came to.

"What happened? Did we lose?" She croaked.

"No it's fine. You pushed them back." The Medic said.

"Thas good." She said as her eyes rolled back and she passed out again.

As the medic was bandaging her largest wounds all the comms lit up.

"Ellie! Someone! Anyone! A Phantom got into the Command Center! Help! Oh god Beth!" Mel screamed.

Ellie was still unconscious but Tychus and Tosh heard the message and raced off to help. When they arrived they found Beth lying in a pool of blood with a massive hole through her chest. An infested was sitting over the body like a prize.

"Piece of shit." Tychus growled as he shot it to pieces.

"Who's there?" A voice called from inside.

"Tychus Findlay." Tychus said.

"Ugh get in here." The voice said.

Tosh led the way and they found Mel inside sitting against the wall. She was nearly white from blood loss. She had taken off her shirt and was using it to attempt to slow the bleeding.

"Where's Ellie? Doesn't matter. Hand me that mic." She said reaching for a headset.

Tosh handed it to her and she began ordering reinforcements to certain positions from memory.

"Girl you need a doctor." Tychus said.

"Hah! I've been here for days big guy. I know what happens when you get wounded by these things. I've got a few hours maybe a day if I'm lucky. But I'm not going to make it through this." She said.

"I might argue that." Ellie croaked as the medic carried her in.

"Hey. Did you see…" Mel blacked out for second before Ellie smacked her.

"Look at me. It's in your blood. Those cells are connected to the hive. If I connect myself to them I can terminate them. I'm not losing two friends today." Ellie said she closed her eyes and gasped as she reconnected to the hive.

She could feel the deaths of the infested and it almost made her sick. Then she focused in on the cells inside Mel and sent a tiny burst of Psionic energy through each of them. The cells died and after checking to see if any were left Ellie cut her connection once again.

"There. Now I'm going to take a…" Ellie fell asleep and Mel gripped her hand while whispering a silent thank you.

"Now we have to get you patched up. Do you know your blood type?" The medic asked.

"O something? Check on the others. Ryan went somewhere with Jim a few minutes ago. I think Zach was attacked in the back. Go check please. I have orders to send." Mel said issuing commands to both the marines and the Scv's who were repairing the defensive structures.

Tosh went into the back while Tychus wandered back outside and looked at the sun peeking over the horizon.

"It's about damn time."

**That's you guys isn't it? Yeah so sorry about the nearly month long wait for an update. I've been working roughly 35 hours a week plus 18 College credits. That doesn't leave much time. But lately I've been getting less hours and the school year ends next week for me. So I'll be sure to be updating more often then. But it was worth it right? I mean a 10 page updates gotta count for something… Anyway if you like my writing style check out my Fictionpress account as well. It's Lich00 as well. See us later.**


	8. Holding Out Hope

Holding out Hope

Jim watched as Swann's Factory descended to the ground. A group of Helions rolled out of the building and their pilots stepped out to salute Jim.

"Reportin for duty commander." They said.

"At ease boys. Now we got eight hours before those things can come at us again in force. I need you to go and burn out as much of the area around the base as you can. If we can clear a path to the Spore Cannons then we can evacuate the civilians and get out of here." Jim said.

"You got it Commander. Let's move it boys! Time to burn some rubber!" One of the drivers yelled to the others.

Jim turned his Communicator back on and listened as Mel gave out orders though her voice sounded weak and shaken.

"Have two men watching each entrance at all times… everyone else sleep in shifts. I've got a group of medics on their way to patch each group up and bring some food. Call if you need anything." Mel said.

"Melanie? You okay?" Jim asked as he headed back towards the command center.

"Jim? No I'm not. A Phantom got into the Center. Beth's dead. Ellie's out for at least four hours according to our medic here. Zach got buried under some spare SCV gear and he's unconscious. I got sliced up pretty good to…" She said.

"Are you…?" Jim was afraid to ask.

"Ellie purged the cells. That's why she's out. No I'm not going to become one of them. I've just got this big cut going through my stomach." Mel said.

Jim was running back to the Command Center and when he arrived he found Melanie lying on the floor with a medic attempting to close the massive gash on her stomach. A makeshift bag infusion sat on the table and a pool of blood was around the girl.

"Hello Commander." Mel said with a pained smile.

"Hey. How are you still conscious?" He said, cringing as blood sprayed on the medics helmet.

"Oh a mix of adrenaline and stim packs. Everything is moving so slow. I can barely feel the pain." She said.

"Is that good or bad?" Jim asked.

"I already checked commander. She still has full control of her legs. The damage was mainly dealt to her stomach, Uterus, Kidneys and her liver. It wasn't deep enough to paralyze her." The medic said.

"Yeah. Though from what she said, I probably won't be having any kids." Mel said sadly.

"Well you can be like me, one of the sectors best Singles." Jim said with a wry smile.

"Yeah. Is Ryan okay?" She asked.

"Yeah he's working on that Vulture bike in the Dropship. I should probably get him…" Jim said.

"Yeah. He should get in here. He's probably going to head out with the Helions. Hey, El." Mel said looking past Jim.

Jim turned around to see Ellie gripping her sides through her shredded uniform. Her skin had mostly grown back but the chitin had yet to reform.

"Hey how are you holdin up?" Jim asked.

"Beth's dead. I should have been over here." Ellie said.

"No. If you weren't at the northern barricade, they would have been overrun. One death is preferable to losing the whole base. Beth would tell you the same thing. Do you know how many we lost to the Infested? Nearly twenty of our friends. After the first five we all agreed not to mourn the dead until we were safely off the planet. Beth would want it this way." Mel said.

"I'm going to make them pa-" Ellie said turning towards the exit.

Tosh appeared in the doorway and Jim held her arm.

"No you are going to rest. You were fighting out there all night. I don't know how bad it will get tonight but I assume that we are going to need you out there. I'll be on the front lines tonight myself." Jim said.

"You can't tell me what to do James!" Ellie said and her eyes glowed dangerously.

Tosh jabbed two fingers against her forehead and her eyes rolled back into her head. The Spectre caught her and slung her over his shoulder.

"Dat's a little trick I picked up. Usin Psionic power to temporarily shut down da brain. I'll take her to the barracks. Get some food in her before tonight." He said.

"Good plan. Tychus you get that kid out from under that pile yet?" Jim called.

"Yeah Jimmy. This kids gonna have one nasty headache when he wakes up. Ouch." Tychus said setting Zach in a chair.

"Some major bruising on the back and a minor fracture in his skull. Probably has a concussion and a few fractured or cracked ribs. I'll get to him after she stabilizes. I've had to inject her with enough stim packs that she won't be asleep for two days." The medic said scanning Zach and then returning her attention to Melanie.

"You can fix all that?" Jim said gesturing to Mel's gaping wound.

"Yes, my scalpel can repair most of her internal organs and there is enough skin left that I will be able to sew the gash shut. It won't be pretty but it will keep her alive and her insides inside." She said.

"Good good. That's where they belong." Melanie hummed nervously.

"I'll be putting the command Center in Lockdown tonight. No more Zerg will be getting in here." Jim said.

"Okay. Oh one sec. Helion unit, begin on the northern side of the base, that's where the strongest push began. Break into two groups, and head in opposite directions. To all idle SCV units, repair those bunkers, and if we have the materials for any further defensive structures, add them to the eastern and western Barricades. Any Zerg sightings?" Mel asked.

There was a chorus of no's from the marines and Mel sighed with relief.

"Report any sightings over the radio. Our Sensor Tower can only pick up so much. Command out." Mel said.

"Where the hell did you learn to coordinate like that?" Jim asked.

"Well, Zach, Beth and I were orphans and Ellie and Ryan both had military families. We were going to enlist in the dominion military together, so we each picked what we'd be good at. Ellie was an obvious choice for the Ghost Program, Zach wanted to be a Wraith or Viking pilot or maybe the Captain of a Battleship, Ryan was going in on his vulture, Beth was going to try to command a Siege Tank and I was planning on being a Medic or Tactical manager. Plus I have always been the 'leader' of our group, until Ellie returned." Mel said.

"You five would have been a force to be reckoned with. What's that?" Jim asked looking at the virtual map of the area surrounding the base.

"Eastern Barricade, are you seeing any Movement?" Jim asked.

"No sir- Oh Shit! Zerglings!" A marine yelled.

There was a tense minute of gunfire then the marine came back on.

"Thanks Commander, they would have been on our asses if you hadn't said something."

"No problem keep someone on watch. They might rush you again. Helion squad how's it comin?"

"We've got a few blocks set ablaze commander. They've got broodlings living in these things. Once we light'em up they charge out and pop our tires or something. Damn things are slowin us down. Other than that we're all good." One of the pilots said.

"Jim why're you on? I thought Mel was in charge of comms?" Ryan asked.

"Kid, you better come in here."

A few minutes later Ryan was standing in the Command Center staring at Mel in shock.

"You know, if this were any other situation I'd say you were a Perv. Staring at me without my shirt is kind of embarrassing." Mel said now with some color returning to her face.

"Yeah well why didn't you contact me? I was right outside I could help!"

"I tried. You never answered. And you had the ship closed up. It's done now. Use your bike to run supplies to the Bunkers. They need food and water, the western barricade could also use some medical supplies. It'll help the Medics get them healed up faster. Go on." She said.

Ryan looked at Jim and he nodded.

"She's right." He said.

Ryan nodded and left. A few minutes later they heard the engine of his vulture rev up and fade. Mel spent the rest of the day in forced recuperation as she sat in a chair and directed the soldiers. Jim left an hour before sunset and Zach woke up just after that.

"Ugh What happened?" He asked gripping his head.

"You were buried under equipment by a phantom. I got sliced open, Beth's dead, Ryan's helping supply the Marines at the barricades and we are locked in here. Oh and Ellie will probably be fighting a small army again tonight." Mel said spinning around to face him.

"Beth's dead?" Zach asked looking sorrowful.

"Yeah mourn later remember? For now, tell me any time a large number of red dots appear on that map. I've got an army to manage." Mel said pointing at the holo map.

"Report in." She said over the comm channels.

"Northern Barricade here, Helion patrol inbound, eta five minutes."

"Eastern Barricade here, the SCV unit set up some of Stentman's Turrets on top of our bunkers. We've got a bit of junk piles in the way of the infested, they ain't getting through here."

"This is the western barricade. We've got things covered here. Contact us first if we need men anywhere else." Jim said.

"Torch patrol how did you guys do?" Mel asked.

There was no response.

"Helion group?" She asked sliding her chair over to the monitor with their vital information.

She froze as she saw the monitors.

"Northern Barricade! Open fire on those Helions. They've been infested!" She yelled over the comms.

Her warning came to late and the Helions flew past the bunkers towards the civilians. The marines in the bunkers fired at the Helions and managed to down two of them but that left ten advancing on the civilians. Jim and the others were all on the other side of the camp and the civilians were unarmed. Then one of the Helions exploded. Ryan raced past them on his Vulture and did a lightning fast U-Turn. As he came up from behind he fired the Vultures Grenade canisters into the backs of the Helions. They each went up in flames as he sped past each of them. Once they were all aflame Ryan stopped and opened his comms.

"I got em. You guys just focus on defending." He said.

The soldiers at the barricades returned all of their attention to the horde of infested shambling towards them.

"Aw Hell. Infested Marines? I don't care for that notion one bit." Tychus said after a few hours.

Sure enough Infested Marines were very slowly walking towards them. Ellie could see them attempting to aim their guns and she leaped past the infested civilians and next to the Marines. With her blades she sliced off their arms then rammed the bone blades into their foreheads.

"These guys are to slow to fight back." She said.

"They should be faster. I've seen infested like them before. They should not be that sluggish." Jim said.

Ellie shrugged and finished off the last few marines. She was surprised when she found more behind her, though they were only starting to ready their weapons as she saw them. She stepped in between them and sliced them up just like the others. Then another group of marines was behind her.

"Where the hell are these things coming from?!" She yelled as she charged into the infested.

Tosh searched around with his rifle until he saw an egg sac flying into the air.

"Der be an Infestor ova der." He said into his radio.

"A what?" Ellie asked.

"It can make more infested and cause us a bunch of problems. Kill the damn thing!" Jim yelled.

Ellie looked around for where the next egg came from and tore through the infested to get to it. It was almost completely burrowed when she found it. She jumped at its exposed body and was sucked down into the ground with it. She held onto it until a chunk of dirt shot into her mouth. She gagged, three feet underground, and started to panic. She didn't know if she could burrow like Zerg or if she was going to be stuck. She pushed her head to the side until her comm turned on.

"I'm stuck." She said uncomfortably.

"Where?" Mel and Jim asked.

"Underground, somewhere. I grabbed onto the Infestor. Then I got separated from it. Now I'm stuck." She said.

"Can't you unburrow yourself like the Zerg?" Mel asked.

"I don't know. I haven't figured out how to do that yet." Ellie said.

"Well try to figure it out. If you can't we'll come dig you out come sun up." Jim said over the sound of gunfire.

"Gotcha." Ellie said.

She spent the next hour trying to move any meaningful amount. She figured fairly quickly that the ability to swim through the soil was not present or at least not able to be accessed by her. So she contented herself to simply laying in the dark trying to clear out an area for her to move. Her Psionic abilities were of little use as she couldn't use her hands to direct it. Maybe she could ask Tosh to train her a bit more…

Then she felt the ground rumbling.

"Uh Jim can you feel this?" She asked.

"Wha- Oh Shit." He said as the rumbling intensified.

"Nydus Worm!" Jim yelled as Ellie was hit by something massive and sent flying into the air.

She flailed helplessly as she sailed high into the night sky and the worm erupted from the ground below her. It was nearly thirty feet across and most of what she could see was a massive mouth. She fell and landed on top of one of the Bunkers with an audible crunch.

"What the hell? Did something hit us?" One of the marines beneath her asked.

"Yeah. Ow I think that was my ribs." She said as she stumbled.

"Alright boys, blast shields up. Things are about to get messy." Jim said holding up a very large rifle.

He trained the gun on the Nydus worm and a red laser dot appeared on the monstrous creature. He fired the gun and there was a shockwave as the bullet breached the sound barrier. It went through the worm and tore a four foot hole in its fleshy body. Bits of the behemoth pelted the defenders and Ellie felt slightly sick as some of it landed in her hair. The creature issued a dying screech as it collapsed in on itself and sank back into the ground.

"Well that tells us two things. One is that this thing is good for one shot. The second is that the swarm is here." Jim said tossing aside the former rifle.

"What the hell was that Jimmy? And where do I get one?" Tychus asked.

"Sorry Tychus. It's just a prototype. Good for one shot." Jim said pointing at the gun.

The barrel had been mostly destroyed and the shell casing was smoking a few feet away. Tychus looked longingly at the destroyed weapon.

"It doesn't matter. The main problem is gone. Now we just need to get rid of that Infestor." Jim said.

"I can't see it. Maybe Ellie scared it off." Tosh said with a laugh.

That seemed to be the truth, as the rest of the night went smoothly and the Raiders easily held their borders. When dawn came Jim signaled the Helions that had been produced by the Factory overnight to head out. They rolled through the barricades and tore off towards the infested zones.

"I want constant radio updates. And stay out of range of your damn targets. I don't want a repeat of last night." Jim ordered.

"I'm still ready for anything, Commander. I'll monitor the Comms, you get some rest." Mel said.

"Thanks kid. I might just do that. Anyone who wasn't on active duty last night, you're on watch today, restock those bunkers and keep an eye out for any Zerg. Those of you who were on the Barricades, get some rest. With any luck tomorrow we can get out of here." Jim said.

The men in the bunkers either went back to the barracks or slept in the bunkers. Ellie walked towards the barracks gripping her sides and grimacing. Her ribs had fused back together in the wrong ways and now she had to get them rebroken and set properly. Tosh was nowhere to be found and Tychus was sleeping off the half a dozen beers he had drank over the course of the night. Jim grabbed a ration pack from the barracks and crashed in the command center.

Melanie directed the repairs and the improvements along the barricades and monitored the Helion squads. Her scanners showed that the areas to the immediate north, east and west were nearly clear of Zerg signatures. She focused on bolstering the east and west barricades the path to the cannons was nearly clear. Now they just had to survive another night. An hour before nightfall Mel sent out an order to the Helions to return to the base.

"Go to the northern barricade, you won't be able to enter the other two." She said.

They raced around the base and once they were in the SCV's welded a plate in between the northern bunkers. The other barricades had been reinforced and now were solid walls with a door sized hole in the center and slots for the soldirs to fire from. The SCV's had put every effort into making the barricades as strong as possible.

"Alright, Tosh and Tychus go to the western barricade. Save your ammo for any of those mutants. Ellie and I will take care of any on this side. Raiders, shoot anything that moves out there." Jim said as the sun went down beyond the horizon.

Nearly half an hour later the cries of the infested could be heard in the distance. Ellie leaned against the wall of the barricade with her rifle and since there was no fighting to be done, she reached into her pocket for the picture of her family, for the first time since she had left the house. It had been slightly torn around the edges and her blood had soaked into it, givIng the whole picture a red tint, and her face was no longer visible behind the red stain. She folded up the photo and glared at the oncoming infested. The marines behind the wall were tearing the zombie like creatures to shreds under their constant rain of bullets.

"Uh Jimmy? Does this seem a bit to easy to you?" Tychus asked over the radio.

"Yeah. But we did burn out a lot of them today. They might not have much left to throw at us." Jim said.

"Commander? You may want to know that I'm picking up a new signature. It looks similar to a phantom but it's emitting to much energy." Mel said.

"Alright. Where is it headed?" Jim asked.

"Straight towards you. You should have visual contact in ten seconds." Mel said.

Ellie stood up and kept a vigilant eye on the horde of Infested. She saw a flash of orange lightning, then another and another. Soon the source was at the front of the group. It was an abomination. The twisted figures of three people were fused together in a twisted fashion. One was bent over and shambling along while the other two clawed at the sky. Orange lightning shot off their bodies and zapped nearby infested, stunning them.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Jim demanded.

"I don't know. It's emitting a lot of raw Psionic energy though. All my equipment is starting to freak out." Mel said.

"We… serve the … Queen. She… gave us… Power." It said wheezing with every pause.

"You can spe- Gave you power? You wanted this?!" Ellie demanded.

"Make us… Stronger if… kill you." It said.

Ellie loosed a clip of rounds at it but it's electrical field vaporized them. She extended her blades and leaped at the Abomination.

The second she reached the electrical field she felt like she had touched a power plant. She was launched back against the wall and left a large indent. She twitched a few times as her eyes and mouth let out clouds of steam. A medic ran out and ran a scanner over her.

"She's out! Whatever that thing did it overloaded her nervous system!" She yelled as she dragged Ellie behind the barricade.

"Damn it. Tosh!" Jim called over the comm channel.

He didn't receive an answer but Tosh appeared on top of the barricade with his rifle trained on the creature. There was a gunshot and a blast of red light from the gun and through the monstrous Infested. The creature reeled as one of its heads exploded. Tosh loosed another two shots and the creature gave a final gurgling cry as it collapsed in a small pond of blood.

"Powerful Psionic creature. To generate a field like that…" Tosh said under his breath.

"What the hell was that thing?" Jim asked.

"Dunno, but they musta been powerful Psionics to do that to her." Tosh said pointing at Ellie.

"Yeah. But I've never seen Psionic Energy like that. Except the High Templar." Jim said.

"I tink they were just like batteries. Only purpose is to make da field." Tosh said.

"Well that's disturbing. Now they can turn people into that." Jim said.

"Yah. I betta get back." Tosh said as he leaped off of the barricade and walked towards the eastern barricade.

Jim watched for any problems outside the barricade but none were seen and the general infested were getting ripped to shreds by the marines. Ellie recovered in about ten minutes and she climbed up next to Jim.

"Remind me to never charge one of those things again." She said.

"Well to be fair it didn't look that imposing. Now since we seem to be free for the moment, let's talk strategy. We need to destroy those spore Cannons today. Our supplies are starting to run low and we can't take many more of these mutants. The Helions can take out four of the Cannons but the last one is past the Zerg. I need someone who can get past them and destroy it. Can you do it?" Jim asked.

Ellie nodded and Jim gave her a serious look.

"Are you sure? If you don't think you can tell me and I'll think of something else." Jim said.

"No I can. If Ryan can get me through there on his Vulture I can destroy it. Then we can get back." She said.

"Uh kid, Vultures ain't meant for that kind of thing. They can't take a hit." Jim said.

"His can. All of its reinforced. We can do this Jim." She said.

"I hope so. I don't want to have any more people dying because of my plans." Jim said.

Ellie looked over into the camp where Ryan was sitting on his Bike ready to intercept any infested.

"We'll leave just after Sunrise. That way we can be back with plenty of time to spare." She said.

"Alright. You get into any trouble and I'm coming after you myself." He said.

"Alright…Commander." She said before loading her Rifle and firing into the mass of infested.

The rest of the night went smoothly aside from a few Shriekers getting close to breaking through the metal barricade and an Abomination arriving shortly after. Once the sunlight appeared on the horizon Ellie hopped off the Barricade and walked over to Ryan.

"What's up?" He asked.

"You and I are going to destroy a Spore Cannon." She said hopping on up behind him.

"Seriously? Yep you're serious. Just tell me where." He said.

"Mel? Ryan and I are leaving in a few." She said.

"Huh? Okay… I think all those Stims are wearing off. I… can barely keep my eyes open." She said.

"Get some shut eye. Adjutant takeover." Jim said.

"Of course Commander." The robotic voice of the adjutant said.

"See ya Jim." She said as Ryan revved up the engine and they tore out of the Northern Barricade.

They headed south towards where the infested had been attacking them from. The sun was up by the time they reached the eastern Barricade and they were greeted to the scent of burning flesh. Ellie wrinkled her nose as her heightened senses made the smell even worse.

"Uh so this Cannon is at the back of a Zerg Base? So we are going to have to deal with Zerglings and such?" Ryan asked.

"Probably. Just get close to the Cannon. I'll hop off and destroy it. You just focus on keeping them off of you." She said.

"Alright. You're the boss." He said.

As they continued down the road Ellie looked around at the destruction that the Zerg had caused and her anger rose to the boiling point. They had taken her from her home and now they had destroyed it as well. She could feel her Psionic energy electrifying the air around her. Ryan felt it to and he realized just how dangerous Ellie was now. As they came in sight of the Zerg base he pulled to the side.

"Well here we are. And where is the- holy…" He said as he realized where the cannon was.

It was at the far end of the base near a cliff. It was also nearly one hundred feet tall. It looked like a giant mouth facing the sky sitting on top of a mass of green goo.

"How the hell are you going to destroy that thing?" He asked.

She held out her hand and green electricity arced off of it.

"Okay then. Hold on." He said as he revved up the engine.

They shot off into the base and Ellie saw Zerglings perk up as they shot past them. A Hydralisk spine shot past her face and Ryan weaved through the structures at extremely high speeds. When they approached the Cannon she jumped off the bike and took off running. She looked back to see the majority of the Zerg chasing after Ryan. About ten Zerglings had broken off from the group to pursue her. She kept running for the cannon but extended her arm blades. She was about ten feet away when the first Zergling reached her and buy into her leg. The chitin on her leg kept it from severely damaging it but it still caused quite a bit of pain. She rammed one her blades into its head and faced the others as it fell to the ground, dead. They leaped at her and she stabbed them and dropped their bodies to the ground. When they were all dead at her feet she turned and rammed her blades into the spore Cannon. Green electricity flowed off of her body and the Cannon began to pulsate and screech. The entire creature began glowing with green light and Ellie pulled out her blades and started running. Behind her the cannon began screeching louder and louder until it exploded. The blast sent Ellie flying into a Zerg structure and sent globs of green goo flying over the entire area. The globs ate through anything they touched and caused chaos among the Zerg. The Zerg who weren't chasing Ryan began roaring in pain as the acid burned through them. Ellie climbed out of the structure and caught one of the acid balls on her shoulder. It ate through the flesh almost instantly, leaving behind a skeletal shoulder with a few cords of muscle. She gripped the wound and looked around for Ryan. She didn't have to look very far as he came tearing around the main hive and straight towards her. She hopped on as he rode past her.

"That was something." He said.

"You know me. Gotta be the star." She said noticing that the bike had a few holes in it.

"She may not make it back to camp." He said.

"Sorry." Ellie said.

"I'm not. It did what it was supposed to. And it did a damn good job." He said.

He turned towards the raiders camp and began weaving around the structures. A few Zerg got in their way but they soon found out that standing in front of a vulture is not very wise. Just before they reached the edge of camp the bike sputtered and began shaking.

"Jump now." Ryan said as he turned the bike in a 180.

He slid out of the seat and He revved the engine one last time and sent the bike towards the group of Zerg that had been chasing them.

"Run." He said as he ran past Ellie.

They began running just as the bike collided with the Zerg. A Hydralisk clawed at the speed machine and hit the ammo compartment. The bike's explosives went off all at once and sent the Zerg up in a fiery explosion. The blast reached Ellie and Ryan and sent them sliding a few feet.

"That was awesome." She said.

"Yep. Now let's go before they figure out a way through that." He said.

"Right."

They began jogging back towards the raiders base and Ellie opened her radio.

"Jim we are on our way back. The cannon was destroyed." She said.

"I saw. The other four are all gone as well. We are evacuating the colonists now. Your ship is ready to go whenever you get back. But whatever you did got the Zerg riled up. They must have had more hives because Zerglings are popping up all around the base." He said.

"We may have set their base on fire." She said.

"Well good for you. Just get back here and fast." He said.

They picked up the pace and when they reached the eastern barricade they found a mound of Zerglings.

"Hurry up! Another wave is incoming!" A marine yelled from inside the bunker.

They ran into the base and saw the last colony ship taking off. Jim was waiting near the command center.

"Mel and Zach are on board your ship. Get to the Hyperion and tell Matt to be ready to get the hell out of here." He said.

"On it." Ellie said running into her Dropship and sitting in the pilots seat.

They were airborne shortly and once they were in orbit she radioed the Hyperion.

"Matt. Be ready. Jim wants to basil once he and the guys are on board." She said.

"I've the engine primed. Get in the hangar." Matt said.

She landed the ship and immediately got out and ran to the bridge.

"Have they gotten out yet?" She asked.

"The last marines are leaving the ground now. Make sure our course is clear." Matt ordered the navigator.

Soon Jim and his Raiders were safely on board and Matt gave the order to jump. The Hyperion shot off into the stars leaving Meinhoff to the Swarm.

So…. About the really long time between updates, a few things happened. First my computer blue screened, second I got a job as an intern. So I had to rewrite this chapter from scratch with only about four hours a day of free time. So yeah. I'm not promising when the next update will be out because whenever I do it never gets out by that day.


	9. Welcome to the Jungle

**Welcome to the Jungle**

Aboard the Hyperion En-warp from Meinhoff

Ellie let out a long breath as they warped out.

"We made it." Matt said.

"By the skin of our teeth. I lost my home, my family and one of my best friends. I'm going to kill her." Ellie said angrily and her eyes glowed like neon.

"Easy. Getting angry right now won't help anything. Why don't you take your friend to see Doctor Hanson?" Matt suggested.

Ellie's rage subsided as she remembered Mel's injuries. She hurried off of the Bridge and Matt let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm never having kids." He muttered to himself.

Ellie found Mel and the boys admiring the hangar. Mel was grimacing and had dark bags under her eyes but she looked to be fine otherwise.

"You okay?" Ellie asked as she walked up.

"Yeah. Hurts a bit without the adrenaline but not to bad." She said.

"Come on let's get you to the Med Bay." Ellie said helping Mel to her feet.

"I think I'll stay here. Maybe I can help them with… something." Ryan said walking off toward Swann.

"I think I'll stay as well." Zach said following Ryan.

Ellie helped Mel to Dr. Hanson's office and when they arrived they found the doctor ready with an operating table.

"Matt told me you would be coming. Now I'm going to have to give you a heavy anesthetic. Is that alright Melanie?" Dr. Hanson asked.

"Yes ma'am." Mel said happy to see a familiar face.

"Good now lie down here. The medic who patched you up did the best with what she had but now I'm going to repair as much of the damage as we can. Now this may sting a little." Ariel said as she slid an IV into Melanie's arm.

""Is this gonna make me go all loopy?" Mel asked.

"I believe so. The last time we have you this was when we pulled your wisdom teeth. You kept trying to tell us about your imaginary friends. It was quite entertaining." Ariel said.

"Oh god." Melanie said as she turned bright red.

"Now Ellie will you stay? I need an extra pair of hands." Ariel said putting straps on Mel's wrists and ankles.

"Sure. Just don't go to crazy, okay Mel?" Ellie said.

"I'll try."

The drug took about a minute to start working and the effect was obvious. Melanie started giggling at everything and crying if she couldn't see Ellie.

"You know Zach?" Mel asked suddenly.

"Yes I know Zach." Ellie said.

"He's pretty cute." Mel said very seriously.

"I've never noticed." Ellie said hoping this wasn't going where she thought.

"I started hanging out with him when all that bad stuff started happening. In private." Mel said with a sly smile.

"Oh god." Ellie said, partially because of what Mel was saying and partially because Doctor Hanson had reopened Mel's stitches.

"Yeah. That was a great night." Mel said with a sheepish grin.

"You're going to regret this when your not loopy anymore." Ellie said.

"Hey that tickles." Mel said as Doctor Hanson attempted to correct some of the damage to Melanie's insides.

"Tickles isn't how I would describe it." Ellie said grimacing as she realized how badly her friend had been hurt.

"So have you and Ryan ever done that?" Mel asked ignoring the gaping hole in her abdomen.

"No Mel." Ellie said shakily.

"Are you okay Ellie?" Doctor Hanson asked.

"Yeah. Just… I thought after what I've done I thought this wouldn't bother me this much." She said.

"It's a normal reaction. You've killed Zerg up until now right? It's far different when it's someone you know who's taken the hit." Ariel said as she began sewing Mel back up.

"Right… only Zerg…" Ellie said.

After she was done Doctor Hanson offered to stay with Mel until she recovered from the drugs. Ellie left with a wavering smile and headed back to her room. She lay in her bed staring at the picture of her family. The memories of the burnt out shells of her parents flashed in her mind and she dropped the picture. She wrapped her arms around her legs and started crying in the darkness.

In the Hangar Ryan and Zach were helping Swann move equipment around with the crane to make room for all of the dropships to be stored.

"A little to the left… right there. Set her down." Swann yelled to Zach.

Ryan finished parking the last Helion as they put the drop ship onto its platform.

"So kid, you know your way around those Helions. Where's a fringe world kid learn to drive like that?" Swann asked.

"My dad was a Vulture Pilot in the Brood War. He taught me how to do maintenance on that bike and how to operate it. These aren't that different." Ryan said.

"Hm, Vulture Bikes aren't known for being very reliable. These guys can take a bit more of a hit." Swann said.

"Really? A heat source hitting the fuel above the cab would roast a driver pretty quick. Besides you could always just take out a tire or two." Ryan said.

"Well… yeah. But Vultures are death traps. Anything goes wrong and you're riding a death trap." Swann said.

"Or a handy ordinance delivery system." Ryan said.

"Yeah if it doesn't blow up on you." Swann said.

"Half the fun." Ryan said with a shrug.

"You guys like machines to much." Zach said.

"Oh really?" Ryan said with a mischievous grin.

"What?" Zach asked.

"Oh I was just thinking back to when we were holed up in the school. How you and Mel always seemed to disappear at the same time. And how I saw you sneaking off together once." Ryan said.

Zach was turning bright red and looked mortified.

"I- we-" He sputtered as Ryan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Man I've known you both since we were five. I never thought you would get together with Mel. Of course I'm terrible with relationship stuff. Which leaves me with just one question, did you hit that?" Ryan asked.

Zach didn't say anything but nodded with a idiotic smile.

"Oh! Yes! I've gotta tell Ellie." Ryan said.

"Ah! Leave the princess alone. She went through a lot down there. And I got a question for you, how old are you?" Swann asked.

"Mel and I are both 17." Zach said.

"I'm sixteen. Ellie and I are about six months younger than them." Ryan said.

"Huh. Okay then. You both can help me repair some of this stuff." Swann said.

"What?! Why?!" Both the boys asked.

"Because I've got a hundred credits for each of you if you do." Swann said.

"Deal." They said.

Mel blinked as she regained coherent thought. Doctor Hanson was sitting next to the table and watching her intently.

"What's up Doc?" She asked.

"I have a question. What happened down there? With Ellie I mean."

"She uh… she had to kill her parents. They were infested." Mel said.

"But she can break people away from the Hive Mind. She freed an entire Brood of Zerg." Ariel said.

"She mentioned that. Apparently The Queen of Blades was controlling the infested on Meinhoff, or at least her parents. It… wasn't pretty." Mel said.

"I see. You may… want to go talk to her." Ariel said.

"How can I talk to her about something like that? I never even knew my parents." Mel said.

"Well maybe you could try to brighten her spirits. I recall you said quite a few embarrassing things earlier." Ariel said with a wry smile.

"How embarrassing?" Mel asked nervously.

"You may have hinted at… activities with Zachary." Ariel said.

"Yeah I was going to ask you about that…" Mel said awkwardly.

"Well there was severe damage to your abdomen. You won't have to worry about having children." Ariel said sadly.

"Yeah I figured. After what that medic said… well I'm not a Zerg so I guess I can't regenerate. Anyway, can you tell me how to get to her room?" Mel asked perking up.

Doctor Hanson told her and she walked out of the med bay with only a slight pain in her stomach. She worked her way through the Hyperion until she found Ellie's room, distinguishable by the laser cut letters that read 'Princess', courtesy of Swann. Mel was about to knock on the door when she heard crying. In the twelve years they had known each other Mel had never heard Ellie cry. Not when her dog had died, not when she had three of her teeth knocked out in a fight, or when she broke her arm after she got hit by a truck. Mel opened the door and slipped inside. Ellie didn't even look up when the door opened. Mel walked over and sat down next to her best friend.

"It's okay Ellie. Let it out." She said placing a hand on her shoulder and Ellie looked up with tears running down her face.

"Home, my family, Beth, your the only one I have left." Ellie said.

Mel wrapped Ellie in a hug. She could feel her friend shuddering from her sobbing and she whispered.

"No. You have Ryan, Zach and me. We will never abandon you. And it looks like Jim cares about you." Mel said.

"Well I'd say Zach is yours." Ellie sad still crying but she gave a half hearted chuckle.

"All mine." Mel said as a tear ran down her face as she realized she had her best friend back.

**2 weeks after Meinhoff, Aboard the Hyperion in orbit above Bel'Shir**

"So why are we here Tosh?" Jim asked the Spectre.

"Der's a gas on tis planet dat is worth a fortune to da right people." He said.

"So what's keeping you from getting this stuff yourself?" Jim asked.

"Well der might be a clan of Protoss guarding da gas." Tosh said.

"Well that would explain it. So you need us to harvest the gas while fighting the Protoss for it?" Jim asked.

"Pretty much. I can supply ya with coordinates for da gas and a bit of fire support." Tosh said.

"Damn, fine. Matt I want to know what we're dealing with. Scan the Protoss Base and let me know how much firepower they have." Jim said.

"Already on it sir." Matt said.

"Any chance I can help?" Ellie asked walking through the door.

"Hey kid. I ain't seen you since we left Meinhoff. You okay?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. Just dealing with what happened. So what are we going down there to get?" Ellie asked.

"Its called Terrazine. Very rare, very expensive. Da Protoss tink it's a gift from der gods. Da Breath of Creation dey call it." Tosh said.

"The scan is finished Commander. Looks like nothing to bad except for the fact that they have scouts." Matt said.

"Damn, we don't have anything that can handle air units. Unless…" Jim said walking over to the Intercom.

"Swann if we still have those old Goliath schematics I want them up and running ASAP." Jim said.

"On it cowboy. Give me a little bit." Swann said.

Jim sat down and spun his chair to look at Ellie. She was wearing her Spectre suit after it had been repaired.

"So kid everything okay." Jim asked.

"Yeah just been thinking. Mel and I have been talking about Meinhoff. I'm a lot better than I was." She said.

"Good. Now just a heads up. If you run into any Templar down there, don't engage them, High Templar can even pose a threat to Kerrigan so run okay?" Jim said.

"Okay. Now what am I going to do about those Psi blades? They could just cut through my bone ones…" Ellie asked.

"Use ya Psionic energy ta shield dem. Den you got ya own Psi blades." Tosh said.

Ellie extended her blades experimentally and tried doing what Tosh had suggested. There was nothing at first then her arm blades lit up and they were covered in a green energy.

"That feels strange." Ellie said.

"Yeah well it looks intimidating. Now we just have to wait for Swann to get those schematics loaded up. Then we can go in with a bit of insurance." Jim said.

They sat around the star map for nearly an hour. Jim was looking through the Roster of the Raiders, Matt was overseeing maintenance on one of the bridge computers, Tosh was an unreadable statue and Ellie copied him as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Swann called them back an hour later.

"Alright Cowboy got those Goliath schematics all ready to go. We can start pumpin em out whenever your ready." He said.

"Thanks Swann. Alright now let's get down there. Maybe we can get enough gas before the Protoss even know we're here." Jim said.

In the hangar Ryan and Zach were covered in grease as they finished tuning up the equipment that was going down to the planet. Her drop ship was docked next to Jim's and both had received a tune up.

"Hey guys. Engineering work going well?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah. Not very much action, unless someone finds a gas leak, but it's good to have stuff to do and Swann's paying us." Ryan said.

"Really? Hey Jim do I get payed?" Ellie asked

"Hah, kid when I can afford equipment for all our boys then I'll pay you." Jim said.

Ellie frowned and Zach cleared his throat.

"So where's Mel?" He asked.

"She's asleep. Her wounds just about healed up but Doctor Hanson said she still needs to rest for a few days." Ellie said.

"I'll be seeing you then." Zach said as he started cleaning off the grease from his hands.

"Let her rest!" Ellie called as he exited the hangar and Zach gave her a thumbs up.

"Well now that that's out of the way, I have something to tell you Ellie. The way I figure it, we are gonna need at least two squads. One getting the gas and the second to defend the base. I can handle defense from the Command Center but I can't be doing that and be leading the other team. So I'm putting you in charge of a squad." Jim said.

"What?! No way! I can't lead anyone!" She yelled.

"Well it's you or Tychus. And I don't trust him to keep a straight head in a fight." Jim said.

"And you really think I can? If I'm facing a bunch of Protoss I'm gonna have my hands full. Last time I checked, Protoss hate Zerg even more than Terrans. Why can't Tosh do it?" She asked.

"Well aside from the fact that half of them are terrified of him, they know you better. You've been here longer and they've seen you or at least heard about you. They trust you." Jim said.

Ellie looked at him unimpressed. He scratched his head and looked at her seriously.

"Alright, they're there to make sure the Protoss don't overwhelm you. No pressure kid but you may the only person who can defeat Kerrigan." Jim said.

"Fine let's see them." Ellie said.

They walked through the Hangar to where a group of Marines, Medics and Marauders were standing around laughing together. Ellie did a quick headcount. Three marines, one woman, three men. Three Medic's, all Female. And three Marauders, Two women, one man.

"Hey guys. You ready for this?" Jim called out as they walked over.

They stopped joking around and looked at the Commander as he walked over with Ellie. One of the Marines, a woman with Dark Brown hair and Ruby red lips, looked Ellie over. She looked unimpressed.

"She doesn't look like that much guys. I was expecting more." She said.

The other soldiers laughed. Ellie pulled out her rifle and shot a bullet into the steel wall less than inch from the woman's head. The woman looked surprised as Ellie leaned on the gun and smiled.

"Expecting more?" Ellie asked.

"No, ma'am." The woman said apologetically.

"Well, you certainly make a first impression." Jim said.

"Alright I guess we can try this. So I'm Ellie. Who are you?" She asked and the group all went silent as they waited for someone to go first.

The Male Marauder cleared his throat first. He was a bigger man with dark skin and he had a few scars running across his face. He was out of his suit so Ellie could see that he was missing a few fingers. He had black cornrows that grew down into a braid adorned with colored beads.

"I'm Ty. It's a pleasure to meet you miss." He said with a deep booming voice.

One of the Medic's spoke up next. She was very lean and had a genuine smile running across her face. Her bleach blonde hair was tied into a bun and she had startling Hazel eyes.

"I'm Sarah. I was one of the colonists that you helped on Agria. It will be nice to return the favor." She said.

The second medic waved and Ellie realized it was the Medic from Meinhoff. Now that she wasn't completely dazed and confused Ellie looked her over. She had Raven Black hair and bright green eyes. Black lipstick covered her lips and she had a dazzling smile.

"Hello again. It's nice to see you recovered and back on your feet. I'm Alicia by the way, since we never got to introduce ourselves on Meinhoff." She said.

Ellie looked over at the Marines and one of the men grumbled something that sounded like Scott. He was a big man that dwarfed even Jim outside his armor.

The female Marine shrank back slightly as Ellie looked over at her. Then she regained her confidence and stood up straight.

"I'm Jenny. Pleasure to meet you ma'am!" She yelled with a salute.

Ellie stifled her instinct to laugh and smiled at her. Then one of the female marauders laughed and Jenny glared at her.

"Sorry Jen. Hi I'm Terra and this is Syra, my twin sister." She said.

Ellie looked back and forth between the sisters and noted that they had short black hair, green eyes. Syra had a scar running across her cheek that led down to her neck. A series of lights shown under the scar and Syra smiled.

"I had some trouble with a Hydralisk on Agria. Though now I have an excellent singing voice." Syra said in a mechanical voice.

She proved her point by singing a heavily autotuned version of Sweet Home Alabama from the bar. The marine who hadn't spoken up yet started singing along. Ellie tapped her foot along to the beat of the song and Jim laughed. The last marine looked over at the Commander and grinned.

"I'm David. I've been with Jim since Mengsk was on our side." He said.

"Gods it seems like such a long time ago. What's it been four, no Five years?" Jim said.

"Yes sir. Anyway, glad to be serving you ma'am." David said with a wide smile, revealing several missing teeth.

Ellie smiled as the last Medic spoke up. She was a heavy set lady with a scar across one of her eyes. The white ball still moved and it made Ellie cringe. Her other eye was such a dark brown that it almost looked black. She had a tattoo running down her arm of a banner with dozens of names on it. Some looked fresher than others.

"I am Fiona. I'm from Mar Sara. Jim saved our asses out there." She said.

"Just trying to save everyone I can darlin." Jim said.

"So where's our Dropship? Are we going planet side today?" Ty asked.

"Yeah. You'll be using her ship. See you down there." Jim said as he walked away through the wall of ships.

"So Commander, where's our ship?" Terra asked.

"Commander? I don't even have an actual rank. I'd probably be a private." Ellie said.

"Well let's see, you ripped apart a Brutalisk, Sent a boulder the size of house into orbit and killed a few hundred or thousand Infested back on Meinhoff. You've done quite a bit more than any of us have. Plus you could kill just about anything that comes at us." David said.

"You know I'm only 16 right?" She asked.

"Yeah, the galaxy's most dangerous teenager. Just accept it, you're our commander." Ty said.

"Alright then. The ships this way." Ellie said stepping over the mass of tubes and cables that ran across the floor.

They followed her, carrying their equipment through the hangar. When they reached her dropship the squad looked it over. The neon green and black made it resemble Jim's ship more than the standard Dropship used by the Raiders. Syra pointed at the emblem on its wings.

"What's that supposed to be?" She asked.

"Medusa. Swann's joke on the fact that I look like a monster." Ellie said.

"Huh. Well as long as we don't turn to stone by looking at it." Alicia said as they all got into the ship.

Ellie walked up the loading ramp and sat in the pilots seat. The console whirred to life and the system began running tests. Ellie spun around to face the squad members.

"Alright now we just have to wait for Jim. Everyone know what we're doing down there?" Ellie asked as she checked over her rifle.

"Actually we don't. No one told us what the mission is." Fiona said.

"Well then. Tosh is paying us a massive amount of credits to collect canisters of a gas called Terrazine. The problem is that there is a Protoss colony down there and we need to defend our base and the SCV's that are collecting the gas. We are the team who are guarding the SCV's. I believe Jim is going to have some Goliaths accompany us." Ellie said.

"Well, well we get to fight Protoss? I was there on Aiur. There damn good at fighting." David said.

"These aren't part of the main Protoss group. There a group of fanatics. The Tal'darim I think. They were the ones guarding that artifact fragment." Ellie said.

"I hate those guys. They won't listen to reason. Damn fanatics." David said.

They talked about Meinhoff for a few moments before Jim's voice can through the Comm.

"Alright, Raiders let's move out." Jim said.

All of the dropships in the hangar started their engines and rose into the air. They left through the energy field and headed down to Bel'Shir. Ellie kept her ship near Jim's and when they landed both of them parked their ships next to the Command Center that had been sent down ahead of them.

"Alright Ellie, you get your guys ready to move out. Once we get some defenses up be ready to move out." Jim said.

"On it, Commander." She said.

"Please it's just Jim." He said with a laugh.

Ellie and her squad exited the ship all of them wearing their full gear. She had her Rifle strapped to her back and someone had modified her body suit so that her Arm blades could extend without tearing the fibers.

"Alright let's wait for them to get ready. We can watch for any Protoss." She said.

They followed her through the base where half a dozen SCV's were constructing buildings. There was a cliff near the entrance of the base and Ellie sat on the edge dangling her legs off into space.

"So what's it like?" Sarah asked as she sat down as well.

"What?" Ellie asked confused.

"What's it like being… infested isn't the right word…" Sarah said.

"I'd say Hybrid. But it is strange. I have all this power. Plus there are the actual physical changes. I have bitten my tongue so many times." Ellie said showing them her pointed teeth.

"What about shoes? I noticed you stopped wearing them after Meinhoff." Alicia said.

"Yeah Tosh gave me a crash course in his version of martial arts. My kicks are kind of deadly." Ellie said wiggling her clawed toes.

"So what was it like after Jim got you out of that Chrysalis? What'd you think?" Ty asked.

"Well I kind of wanted to die. Ya'know cause I kind of am the spitting image of the Queen of Blades." She growled.

"No your not. Kerrigan has those creepy wings. And her… hair… is brown." David said.

"Yeah but still. She really kicked my ass on Meinhoff." Ellie said remembering the mental battle she had with the Queen.

"She was there?" Syra asked in confusion.

"No, she was controlling the infested. That was why I couldn't free all those people like I did for the Brood. I had to kill my parents." Ellie said coldly as she smashed her fist against the rocky ground.

The stone cracked and green blood leaked out of her knuckles. The Squad noticed her anger and wisely avoided provoking her. Instead they changed the subject.

"So any tips on fighting Protoss?" Terra asked.

"Yeah don't let the bastards get to close. Their Psi Blades will tear you a new one. And if ya see a Templar, run like hell." David said.

"Good to know." Ty said.

Ellie extended her arm blades and energized them. She experimented with it by ramming it into the stone cliff she was sitting on. The bone slid through the stone like butter. As she pulled the blade out the others gawked.

"That's quite the trick." Syra said.

"You couldn't do that on Meinhoff." Alicia said.

"Yeah I couldn't. Tosh came up with the idea. This way I can at least protect myself from Protoss weapons." She said as she got to her feet.

Before anyone could make a comment their communicators started beeping.

"What's up Jim?" Ellie asked.

"Well we're up and running. Should have a few Goliaths headed your way in a minute or two. Be ready to move out." Jim said.

"Will do." Ellie said as she got to her feet.

They waited until three Goliaths walked over to their position.

"We are ready to assist." The leader said.

"Alright now we just need an SCV to harvest the gas." Ellie said as one of the workers flew over to them.

"Reportin for duty." He said.

"Good. So Jim where's the closest shrine?" Ellie asked.

"About half a mile east from your current position." Jim said.

"Alright then let's move out." Ellie said as they began walking down towards the jungle.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, Ellie was surprised by how much visibility they had.

"I was thinking we wouldn't be able to see very far. This is great." She said looking around.

"This isn't natural. The Protoss must've cut these paths to have easy access to the shrines. Look, the ground is to smooth. And the path is nearly a straight line." Sarah said scanning the area.

"Which means the Protoss could show up at any moment." Ty said with a sigh.

"Let's just get to the shrine. Then we can worry about the Protoss." Ellie said.

They walked through the jungle until they found the shrine where purple gas was spraying up from the ground surrounded by decorative plates. Ellie knelt down next to the gas geyser and put her hand in it. There was a flash and she felt a rush of energy. Green lightning shot off of her body and scarred the surface of the shrine. She opened her Comms and brought up Tosh.

"What the hell does this stuff do?! I'm overflowing with power!" She said angrily as electricity sparked against her head.

"It enhances Psionic abilities. Dats why it's so valuable. Don't breath da gas. It'll mess with ya head." Tosh said.

"Couldn't you have told me not to breathe this shit in?" She growled.

"Don't breathe dat shit in." He said.

Ellie turned off her communicator and glared at the jungle. She went over and punched a tree in rage and was knocked back when it exploded. She and everyone present stared as pieces of burning wood rained down around them.

"I didn't mean to do that. I've got to much energy." She said.

"Just don't touch anyone and you should be fine. Wouldn't want anyone getting struck by lightning." Alicia said with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Yeah." Ellie said as green energy swirled around her fingers.

The SCV unit finished detaching the Terrazine canister a few minutes later and once it was off of its stand they followed it back to Jim's Base. The SCV dropped off the canister in the Command Center then came back next to Ellie.

"Orders?" He asked.

Ellie walked into the Command Center to see the map of the Area and Jim jumped slightly when he saw overflowing with Energy.

"What the hell happened to you?!" He asked.

"The gas boosts Psionics. I breathed some on accident." She said.

"I'm gonna have to talk to Tosh about this…" Jim grumbled.

Ellie ignored him and looked at the map. The Terrazine altars were highlighted and she noticed that most of them were in clusters.

"Hey, if we set up right here, then we could have SCV's harvest from these three altars with minimal danger." Ellie said pointing to three altars just north of the base.

"Unless the Protoss panic and send a huge force, or worse a few Templar." Jim said.

"But if this works then we can get out of here faster which means we save manpower and credits. All I would need are a few more Goliaths to guard the SCV's from aerial strikes." Ellie said.

"Fine but if you even start to get overwhelmed, retreat back here. Don't be stupid." Jim said.

Ellie walked out of the Command Center to where her Squad was waiting patiently.

"Go get two more SCV units. We are going to harvest from three altars at the same time." Ellie said to the SCV unit.

"How? If we spread out then we'll be sitting ducks." David said.

"There's a choke point to the north. If we position ourselves there then we can crush any Protoss that come our way." Ellie said.

"What about the SCV's? They'll be alone if the Protoss send Air units." Jenny said.

"Jim's giving us some more Goliaths. They can defend the SCV's." Ellie said.

"Well this sounds like a fool proof plan to me. How long till we head out?" Terra asked.

"Whenever those Goliaths show up. Be ready to head out." Ellie said as she sat down on a rock and green electricity danced along her skin.

"I wonder…" She mumbled staring at the electricity.

She held out her hand and pointed it at a tree that was only a few feet away. She focused the energy into her hand and it blasted the tree apart with thunder rolling as Lightning shot into the tree. Everyone stared at her as steam rolled off of her fingertips.

"I couldn't do that before. I guess that stuff really works." Ellie said.

Alicia pointed a scanner at Ellie and a green line went over her a few times. She focused on the data appearing inside her helmet and frowned.

"I'm not sure if this is from your mutations or the gas but, your body is going haywire. Increased heart rate, lethally high blood pressure, and it seems your Psionics are energizing every system in your body. There is electricity running through your brain. That should be killing you." She said.

"So this is bad? How bad?" Ellie asked.

"Imagine drinking about three liters of energy drinks while sticking your hand in an outlet. That's what your body is going through. It doesn't seem to be bothering you but don't overexert yourself. It might cause Psionic backlash, which isn't pretty." Alicia said.

"That happened when Tosh was training me back on Redstone. Let's not have that happen." Ellie said remembering the pain that her backlash had caused.

Once the SCV's and extra Goliaths were present Ellie and the others moved out towards the trio of altars. When they arrived Ellie had two Goliaths go with each SCV and had her squad and the three original Goliaths position themselves so that they could see any incoming attack. Then they waited for the SCV's to give them the all clear. They had been idle for nearly a minute when a voice rocked through their minds.

"Filthy Terrans! Leave while you still have your lives!" A very powerful presence roared.

Ellie retreated inside her own mind as she sensed it. It wasn't that it was more powerful. It was the fact that she could sense its determination and fury. It was like someone had touched her mind with red hot steel.

"Hang on now, we just need some of this gas-" Jim started explaining.

"NO! Your filthy hands shall not defile the breath of creation!" The voice roared.

Ellie physically flinched as its anger shot through her. Then it retreated slightly and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"This world was sacred to the Protoss before Terrans reached the stars! You will meet with your deaths this day!" The Protoss roared.

"Alright, Ellie be ready. And shore up our defenses!" Jim said first to her then yelled to some SCV's outside the command center.

Ellie got to her feet, somewhat shaky from the Protoss' mental outrage. The rest of her squad were readying their weapons and preparing for battle by finding any reasonable amount of cover they could. Ellie stood near the Goliaths and readied her rifle.

"Ma'am may I suggest you find some cover?" One of the Goliaths asked.

Ellie said nothing but gave him a glare so icy that he backed his mech up a few feet. Then they waited until David saw the Protoss scouts heading their way.

"Be ready! And uh Ellie, they're probably going to target you first. They hate Zerg even more than 'Heretics'." He said.

Ellie nodded and put on a tough face but she was terrified, fighting Zerg? That was easy, they just shambled along and ignored everything. Protoss? From what she knew about them they were, well trained, merciless and didn't care about dying for their cause. She was so worried she almost missed it when the Protoss came around the last few trees onto open ground. A few zealots and Stalkers. Ellie aimed her rifle and fired. A single zealot fell to the ground with a wounded leg. The others charged forward towards her. When they got closer they stopped to stare.

"The Queen of Blades?" One asked in shock.

"No she would never work with humans. This one is infested! Kill the abomination!" The lead zealot yelled.

The other Protoss apparently agreed because they charged at her with their psi blades ready. Then her squad opened fire. Half of the zealots either exploded in blue energy as they died or fell to the ground crippled. The stalkers were getting ripped apart by the marauders and the Goliaths were making short work of the Scouts. Only one Zealot made it to Ellie. He tried stabbing her but she blocked the blade with her own energy covered blade. He seemed surprised but continued attacking. Ellie could do little other than block his strikes. Anytime she tried to attack he jabbed at her with one of his blades. She finally got lucky and sliced him across the chest. He looked down at the gash as his body withered away. Ellie was drenched in sweat, partially from exertion during their duel and partially from the fear that she could have died. She looked over at the members of her squad who had been watching.

"What were you doing?! You could have helped!" She yelled.

"We could've hit you. Then you would have been out of commission for a few minutes or worse you would have to go back to the Command Center. We figured it was better to let you fight him." David said.

Ellie was about to snap at him when she realized he was right. And she was making an ass of herself. She calmed down and nodded to him before she went over and leaned against a large rock.

"Well that gives us a few minutes to rest right? They shouldn't be sendi-" Ellie stopped as she felt her skin crawl.

She looked down where the Protoss had come from and she could feel a massive Psionic presence. It dwarfed the Templar that had been communicating earlier and it felt nearly as strong as she was.

"Guys… can you feel that?" She asked.

"What?" Scott asked angrily.

"Something big and powerful is heading this way. It's like… I don't know but it's stronger than that Templar." She said.

"Archon. We've gotta run, now!" David yelled.

"How long on those Canisters?!" Ellie called into her radio as they all began running.

"I'm just gettin mine now. The other two should be to." One of the SCVs said.

"We've got an Archon incoming! Head back now!" David yelled.

"Y-yes sir!" The SCV said.

Behind them the Archon was now in view. Thirty feet tall, surrounded by a field of Psionic Energy and very angry looking.

"KILL THE ABOMINATION!" It roared.

"It means me doesn't it?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah. Though I think I can change that." Terra said as she stopped running and faced the monster.

She started firing grenades at the Archon but they always vanished at the edge of the energy field. The Archon looked down at her with its burning eyes and raised its hand.

"Terra!" Syra screamed.

Ellie sprinted as fast as she could but the Archon blasted Lightning into Terra. The front of the Marauder Suit exploded open and Terra flew backwards. The Archon raised its hand to blast her again but Ellie's Fury lashed out. She raised her hands and Green Lightning blasted from her hands into the Archon. The blast seemed to annoy the creature and it raised its hand and shot a bolt at her. Ellie caught it and threw it back. Her hands were smoking as she turned back to the others.

"Get her outta here! I'll catch up!" She ordered.

They obeyed and started dragging Terra away. The Archon looked at them and raised its hand but Ellie threw a weak bolt of electricity at its head.

"Hey! I thought you were going to destroy me!" She yelled.

It looked down at her and raised both hands. She held up her hands and mustered all the power she could they both shot lightning and when the two attacks collided Ellie was sent flying.

"Come on Terra! Stay with us!" Alicia yelled.

She was attempting to heal Terra manually since her suit had been damaged. Nearly all of the front of Terra's body was charred and smoking. She was unconscious and faintly breathing but until they could get a good scan of her Alicia could do nothing to help her recover other than basic burn treatment. Behind them there was an explosion and an echo of deep laughter.

"Ellie…" Ty said as he carried Terra along.

"Focus Ty. She's tough, and she can heal a lot faster than us. Just get Terra to the base." David said.

"Yeah… someone should probably tell the commander." Ty said.

"Jim?" David called.

"What's up?" Jim asked.

"We've got an Archon on our asses, Ellie may or may not be dead and Terra took a direct hit from that thing." David said.

"Ellie tried to fight the Archon didn't she? Damn, I'll have the barracks prepped for treatment but Archon attacks are usually fatal…" Jim said.

"Just be ready sir." David said.

"We need to go find her. She's our CO we can't just leave her." Jenny said.

"Well unless you want to go through that Archon…" Sarah said.

"I can get through the trees. If she's alive we need to find her." Jenny said pointing at the jungle.

"Then go. Just don't expect any backup." David said.

Jenny ran off towards the trees and vanished into the undergrowth. The others breathed a sigh of relief as the base came into view. Scott looked back and saw the Archon coming around the last bend in the path.

"Pick up the pace people!" He roared.

They dashed up the cliff side and once they were in the base Ty and Syra took Terra to the infirmary, with Alicia, Sarah and Fiona following close behind.

Scott and David both stood by the bunkers and waited for the Archon to come into firing range.

Down in the Jungle Jenny was at the site of the Psionic duel between Ellie and the Archon. She could see the crater from the blast and the hole that she presumed contained Ellie, smashed into the cliff side about ten feet off the ground. She ran over and sure enough Ellie's feet were hanging out, smoke still curling off of her skin.

"Ellie?" Jenny called.

"Mrugh…" Was the only response she got.

Jenny grabbed onto Ellie's feet and pulled her out of the hole. The girl woke up as Jenny caught her. Jenny curled her nose as she noted that Ellie smelled like burning Zerg.

"Hmm?! Jenny?! What happened?" Ellie asked rubbing her head.

"That Archon kicked your ass." Jenny said.

"Very funny. Is it dead?" She asked.

"No it's attacking the base right now." Jenny said.

"Put me down. I've gotta do something. Where was it?" Ellie mumbled to herself as Jenny set her down.

Ellie wandered over into the undergrowth until she found what she was looking for. Jenny looked over and saw Ellie holding the canister of Terazine.

"I think we have more important things right now." Jenny said.

"No, this isn't for the base. If only the fumes energized me that much…" Ellie said.

"Ellie, NO!" Jenny yelled as Ellie broke the canister and breathed in the gas.

For a moment nothing happened. Then green energy started flowing across Ellie's skin and she fell to her knees screaming in pain.

"Ellie!" Jenny yelled as she ran towards the girl.

"Don't! You'll get fried." Ellie said as she slowly got to her feet.

She took off towards the base with Jenny following close behind. When they could see the Archon Ellie stopped and raised her hand. She grinned as a massive bolt of energy shot from her fingers and staggered the Archon. It turned to face her and begin floating towards her. Jenny watched and she called Tosh on her communicator.

"Hey Tosh. What would happen if Ellie breathed in a whole bunch of that gas?" She asked.

"Major Powa boost followed by a very painful Psionic Backlash. She actually breathed dat shit in?" Tosh asked.

"Yeah a whole Canister. So she's gonna go nuts soon?" Jenny asked.

"She threw a mountain into space on Redstone. Dat won't be nothin compaed to dis. You better get outta der." He said.

Jenny heeded his advice and crept around the Archon towards the base. It was so focused on Ellie that it didn't even notice her. Ellie was literally glowing with energy. Under her skin her muscles were glowing with green energy. Her eyes were green orbs of energy as she grinned, drunk with power. The Archon launched energy at her and she batted it aside with a simple gesture. She launched another energy volley at it and it was pushed back a few dozen feet. It's energy field shrunk quite a bit and Ellie launched another attack as it was recovering. The energy field shrunk even more, revealing the Archons arms to open air. As she was about to attack again she suddenly stopped and gripped her head. Her hair stood on end and she fell to her knees. The Archon held out its hand and struck Ellie with a massive energy bolt. She took the bolt and rolled back a few feet, skin smoking and her body feeling like it was on fire. She rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on one knee. Her head felt like someone was landing a battlecruiser on it. The Archon hovered above her ready to deal the final blow.

"You fight well, but now you fall." It said.

"Sorry buddy. Not today." Jenny yelled from behind it.

The Archon turned and faced a force of a dozen Goliaths, and an assortment of Marauders, Reapers, Marines and Firebats. All of them had their weapons trained on the Archon.

"Face Judgement!" The Archon roared as it brought up its hand.

All of the Terrans fired and the Archon's arm was shredded under the hail of bullets and grenades. It's energy field vanished and Ellie gave a scream as she focused all of her pain on the Archon. She twisted her hands in the air and the Archon's body followed suit. Soon it ripped in half and fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. As it started to dissolve into energy, it looked over at Ellie who barely had the energy to sit up.

"Abomination… may I know the name of my opponent?" It asked.

"Ellie. Ow." She said gripping her head.

"You were an honorable opponent. I go now to the void." It said as its head dissolved.

Alicia and Jenny ran over and grabbed Ellie.

"Are you okay? Anything that needs immediate treatment?!" Alicia asked looking her over.

"I'll be fine. What about Terra?" Ellie asked.

The medics faces darkened.

"We can't treat the damage. We can keep her alive for a few hours but…" Sarah said.

"Take me to Jim. Just do it. And bring Syra." Ellie said.

Jenny helped her up the Cliffside and into the Command center where she leaned against the wall breathing heavily.

"I did tell you not to fight a Templar. Or two of them fused together." Jim said.

"Shut up cowboy. I think I know how we can save Terra." Ellie said.

"Really? Shoot." Jim said listening.

Ellie explained her plan and Jim listened until she stopped. Then he put a hand against his face and laughed.

"She'd rather die." He said.

"Well when she's conscious again then she can make that call. What do you think Syra?" Ellie asked as she could sense Syra had been listening the entire time.

"If there's a chance to save Terra…" Syra said.

"You don't have to decide now. You can wait until we arrive. I need to check in with her anyway." Ellie said still rubbing her head.

"You can go. But at least tell Mel and the others." Jim said.

"I was planning on taking them. I've been talking with Mel. She wants to see my handiwork. Plus it'll give them a chance to get off the ship." Ellie said.

"Fine. You won't all fit in one ship with Terra's medical equipment. Zach can fly ships right? I'll have him bring a Dropship down. Then you can go. We can handle the rest of the Protoss. Without their Templar they won't be making any coordinated moves. Plus Tosh can help us with any other Psionic powerhouses." Jim said.

"Yeah where is he? Why didn't he help out with that stupid thing?" Ellie growled.

"Experience is best learned by messin up." Tosh said as he appeared next to her.

She punched his arm and groaned as her head throbbed. Tosh handed her small pill.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Sometin I made. Helps wid da backlash. Less headache." He said.

She swallowed the pill and they all waited for Zach to arrive with the ship. Once he arrived Ellie and Syra watched as the rest of the Squad moved Terra into the ship. Fiona say in the Pilots seat while Mel sat in Ellie's ship.

"So where are we headed?" Fiona asked.

"Zerran. Time to call in a favor." Ellie said.

**Ta-Da. Extremely long update. And yes I do realize that Archon's are not that big, but they are listed as Massive units so I took a few liberties. Also I would like to thank Darth ****Sygnious** **and WJ Foster** **for their reviews, I hope that I am getting better and that you all are enjoying the story. Now we get to the part of the story that I've wanted to get to since the beginning. Anyone who thinks they know what is going to happen, post a review and be on the lookout for an update real soon.**


	10. Changing Times

**Changing Times  
**  
When the two dropships dropped out of warp Ellie reached out with her mind. She could feel the Zerg on the planet below, and Alestra's mind stood out. Ellie linked herself to the Broodmother and began speaking.

"Alestra, we're coming down in two Terran Dropships, can you open a psi link on this frequency?" Ellie asked sending her the frequency of the Terran Comms network.

"Yes. I was wondering when you would be returning. I can feel your Exhaustion. I will guide the ships close to the settlement. Rest for now." Alestra replied.

Ellie slumped over in the seat she was in and passed out as she succumbed to her exhaustion.

Fiona and Melanie looked over the planet below. It was mostly desert with a few patches of forest and lakes. There was no sign of any inhabitants let alone any Zerg.

"Hello?" Alicia called as Alestra's voice crackled into their helmets.

"You are the humans with Lady Ellie, yes?" Alestra asked.

"Y-yes?" Mel replied.

"Then come to these coordinates and explain to me what is going on." Alestra said giving Mel and Fiona coordinates on the planets surface.

As they descended the entire squad began explaining what had happened. When they landed Ellie mumbled in her sleep and Mel smiled as she walked to the back off the ship. The ramps on both ships opened and they were greeted by four very strange looking Zerg.

The two on either side of the leader were hunched over, they had animal like faces that extended out into muzzles, glowing orange eyes watched the humans with interest. They had tails and two extra limbs coming off of their shoulders over their heads. Melanie noted that they each had very long very sharp claws on each hand.

The one in the back of the group was massive, easily eight feet tall and four feet from shoulder to shoulder. It's head had a crown like growth and it had four green eyes that looked human on its face. It smiled at them and showed off its razor like teeth. It appeared to have armor plating covering every part of its body but no weapons or claws of any kind. Melanie could see its hands and they looked very human, aside from the armor like chitin covering them.

The lead one looked like a human woman with Zerg Chitin covering her body, similar to Kerrigan and Ellie, the main differences were the two extra arms emerging from her side, the long spider like legs emerging from her back and her face lacked a recognizable nose or mouth and her eyes while human in appearance, glowed orange similar to Ellie's eyes. She bowed and the others did the same.

"Welcome. Where is the injured one?" She asked.

Melanie was to stunned by their appearance to speak and instead just pointed to the other ship. She wandered over to Terra and as she stepped onto the ramp half a dozen weapons were trained on her. She crossed all four of her arms and tapped her bare foot against the metal.

"If you want my help them I suggest you put away your weapons." She said.

"How do we know that you aren't going to kill her? Or infest her?!" Ty growled.

"That's what we're here for." Syra said.

"What?! You mean- Syra no! Terra would rather die!" Ty roared.

"When she's up and talking again she can make that call. I'm not losing my sister." Syra said coldly.

Ty went silent but shook his head. Alestra stepped forward and looked down at Terra. She gently ran a finger along the edge of the burns and tilted her head.

"The metal has fused into the surface of the skin but also into some of the muscle tissue. I can save her but all of the damaged areas will appear similar to my skin." Alestra said.

"Only those areas?" Syra asked hopeful.

"It's not exact, the mutations may spread out from the burns but not much farther." Alestra said.

"Then please do it. Save my sister." Syra begged.

"I will. U will you carry her to the treatment room. You are all welcome to accompany us." Alestra said to the others as she turned to leave.

The large Zerg knelt down and gingerly moved Terra onto its arms. It then began slowly walking into the distance. The others followed except for Alicia who stood by Alestra.

"What about Ellie? The last time I scanned her she had severe internal bleeding and her body systems were going haywire." Alicia said.

"Her body systems are normal for her mutated state. As for the bleeding it's nothing she won't heal on her own with rest." Alestra said.

"Yeah, you try being the one with your body feeling like its burning." Ellie grumbled.

"Oh you're awake. I wanted to ask what you think of my appearance." Alestra said.

Ellie looked her over and her face turned into a snarl. Alestra seemed confused.

"What's wrong?"

"You look nearly identical to my mother." Ellie growled.

"I wondered why the brood kept saying I looked familiar…" Alestra mumbled to herself.

"How would they know what your mother looked like?" Zach asked suspiciously.

"When I broke the hive mind, I poured my memories into the whole brood. I assume she has them as well." Ellie said.

"I have my own memories mixed with yours. This has caused my personality to become… erratic. Though it also helped to learn how to cause mutations. Such as my appearance." Alestra said.

"You must have gotten quite skilled to make a copy of a vague memory." Ellie said still angry.

"I can influence the shape of body parts beyond that I have almost no control over mutations. I believe Abathur is the only Zerg who can make completely new DNA strains." Alestra said as they followed the others.

After a few minutes Ellie realized that, even though they were on flat desert she could no longer see the others.

"Where'd they go?" She asked.

"Into the city. You shall see it in just a few moments." Alestra said.

A hundred feet later she led them into a tunnel that went down farther than Ellie could see in the bright sunlight. Though she could hear plenty of noise coming from within.

"Underground?" Ellie asked.

"We decided we should not draw attention to ourselves. To that end we carved out a 'city' underground. Come." Alestra said.

They descended and after a hundred feet or so the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern. The center was hollowed out so that it was open but went down a few hundred feet. The central chamber was at least three hundred feet across and was nearly a perfect circle. The edges of the cavern were carved out into walkways with stone pillars and 'handrails' along the edge. There were eight rings from the bottom of the cavern to the top. Each ring spanned fifty feet or so with a thick layer of rock in between each to keep the stability of each layer relatively high. Around the outside edge of each of the rings were small caves where groups of Zerg were clustered engaged in various activities. Some were general Zerg species others were mutated to humanoid form such as Alestra and her companions were. Others were in completely different forms that Ellie could not make out. The central chamber was covered in a glowing substance that illuminated the entire cave system.

"You've been busy." Ellie said to the Broodmother.

"It's not that hard actually. Once I learned how to alter body shapes it was quite easy actually. Very easy and simple to make mutations." Alestra said.

"Still how many did you mutate?" She asked.

"I believe 487 of my brood chose to be mutated. The other 568 members of my brood have remained unchanged." Alestra said.

Ellie whistled as Alestra led them down a ramp to the second level down. Ellie could see the others, mainly because their suits were easily identifiable above the Zerg. They were following the large Zerg who was carrying Terra. The two smaller Zerg that had been with Alestra when they greeted the humans were clearing a path for the big guy.

"So why are you the only one who said anything? They seem to be fairly intelligent." Ellie asked.

"Sadly, vocal cords are very complex, I would need a genetic sequence as an example to mutate vocal cords for them. Such as you." Alestra said.

"Heal Terra then we can talk about that." Ellie said.

"Of course. Do you wish to be present for the… operation?" Alestra asked.

"Yeah. And I believe Melanie will probably have a few questions for you." Ellie said.

"The young female? I must wonder, how did she react to your appearance?" Alestra asked.

"She was pretty understanding. Ryan has been to. Zach knows it's me but he still doesn't like it. So two out of three." Ellie said with a chuckle.

"Wasn't there another? Another female?" Alestra asked.

"Yeah, Beth. She died on Meinhoff." Ellie said.

"You have been through much since you were last here. I have many things I wish to discuss with you, after you have recovered." Alestra said.

"Of course. So how much farther?" Ellie asked already getting winded.

"Just up ahead. You can rest while I heal the female Terran." Alestra said as they walked into a decent sized cavern.

There were a dozen or so alcoves carved into the walls. About half of them contained a mix between the chrysalis that Jim had found Ellie inside and a Zerg Egg sac. Terra was lying in front of an empty alcove with the other Terrans standing around her watching the Zerg carefully. Syra was kneeling over her sister.

"Guys you can relax a bit. If they wanted to hurt us, they could have done it a couple hundred times over." Ellie said as she leaned against one of the caves walls and sat down.

They relaxed very slightly but stepped out of the way so Alestra could reach Terra. The Zerg Mother knelt over Terra and very gently ran her hands over the burnt flesh. A thin layer of green gel was left on the surface and soaked into the skin. Alestra then used two of her hands to form a ball of the same gel while the other two attempted to separate the metal from Terra's skin. Alestra could feel the eyes of the Medics and Syra boring holes into her so she sighed and spoke to them.

"The gel was a pain reliever, Ellie can tell you how painful the mutation process is without it." Alestra said.

Ellie groaned as the memory returned to her. Alicia looked at the ball in Alestra's hands and spoke up.

"Then what is that?" She asked.

"A synthesized strain of the Roach regeneration strain. I need to apply it to her damaged cells but I also need a human with a similar organ structure to her. Namely a female. If I do not have a DNA sample from one of you, I could end up damaging her cells, causing what you humans call cancer." Alestra said.

"I'm her twin sister, if that makes any difference." Syra said.

"That would be excellent. If you would please exit your suit, I can extract a small sample." Alestra said.

Syra exited the marauder armor and stood next to Alestra. Now that they could see her face they could see how much she had been worrying. Her eyes were red and tear stains ran across her cheeks. She was trembling as she knelt next to Alestra.

"You may feel a slight pinch. Just relax." Alestra said as one of her hands placed itself on Syra's shoulder.

Her middle finger tapped itself on Syra's shoulder and there was a slight sucking sound. Syra grimaced in pain but remained silent. Once Alestra removed her hand they could all see the small hole on Syra's shoulder. Alicia rushed over to heal it when it began to seal up on its own.

"No permanent damage. And I did it as painless as possible. But now I have a blood, muscle tissue and bone sample. Now I just need to replace the Roach DNA with this…" Alestra mumbled as she injected what she had taken from Syra into the DNA bubble.

It turned blood red and Alestra put a bit on her fingers. She made a small smear on Terra's stomach and waited for a moment. Then the damaged skin bubbled slightly as the red liquid soaked in. Alestra breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was afraid her body might reject the mutation. It took fine. I just need to apply this to the rest of the damaged area." Alestra said as she continued to apply the red liquid.

"So she'll be fine?" Syra asked.

"Yes. Your sister should awaken by tomorrow morning. I can have accommodations brought here so that you may all stay by her. If you so wish." Alestra said.

They unanimously agreed to that. Ellie snored as she finally let go of her stress and succumbed to exhaustion. Once Alestra finished applying the liquid she stood up and took Alicia to one side.

"I will need your assistance in separating the fused flesh and metal. But I would like to wait until the mutation completes. If we operated on her now, it could cause the mutation to stop." Alestra said.

"Of course. I'll help in any way I can." Alicia said.

"Wonderful. Now I believe the young one has questions." Alestra said as she walked towards Melanie.

"I'm still young!" Alicia yelled after her.

Melanie looked up as Alestra approached. She stood up and walked towards the Broodmother.

"Can we talk, away from the others?" She asked.

"Very well." Alestra said and she led the way towards the main cavern.

The two of them leaned on the railing and Melanie looked at the bottom which looked like a human market.

"What is that?" She asked.

"The Zerg have always been focused on efficiency and combat ability. We were never given a sense of taste and only things that were dangerous had any recognizable smell. Using minerals from the planet we have made… perfumes and spices you could say." She said.

"That's got to be strange." Melanie said.

"It is. Even I was only focused on combat. After I received Ellie's memories… I desired a form that was more visually appealing. It was strange to have desires that were my own." Alestra said.

"I'm sure Ellie said something, but I have quite a few questions." Melanie said.

"She said that yes. I will answer them to the best of my ability." Alestra said.

"Thank you. First and foremost, Could you mutate a human into a hybrid like Ellie?" Melanie asked.

Planet Zerran, Nightfall

The only discernible change from day to night was that the light in the main cavern dimmed and the noise coming from the cavern decreased dramatically. The Terrans, excluding Syra and Melanie, grouped up around Terra and fell asleep with one person on watch. Ellie awoke halfway through the night and found Ryan sitting next to her watching the cave.

"What's up?" She asked with a yawn.

"Mel's been talking to that one for a few hours. Wonder what it's about." He said.

"I know. You don't want to know. How's Terra?" She asked.

"Fine. She started growing Chitin an hour ago. Syra almost gave me a heart attack." He said with a chuckle.

Ellie looked over to see Syra lying next to her sister, fast asleep.

"Hey look here they come." Ryan said pointing at the mouth of the cavern.

Alestra and Melanie were walking across the cavern towards the two of them. Ellie braced herself for whatever news the two of them had.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Mel nervously said to Ellie.

"So what's up?" Ellie asked very directly.

"I have talked with her and… what she wants me to do is possible but I would be unable to reverse the process." Alestra said.

"Mel, are you sure about this?" Ellie asked.

"Yes. I've been thinking about it since you mentioned this planet. I've made my choice." Melanie said.

"Should we also consult Zachary?" Alestra asked.

Melanie shook her head but Ellie have her an evil eye.

"Fine. But he isn't going to like it." She said.

Zach did in fact hate the idea. He wandered in circles coming up with every reason he could as to why this was a stupid idea. Melanie was matching each of his comments with a positive one.

"… and you wouldn't be able to set foot on a Terran world. They'd shoot you on sight!" Zach yelled.

"I would be more than able to defend myself. And why would I go to a Terran world? Have you seen this place?" Mel asked.

Zach eventually ran out of complaints and the two of them went off to talk alone for a few minutes. Ryan was leaning against the wall next to Ellie.

"So… should Mel be the only one? Her reasons are good. If you think about it, it seems like a really good idea." He said.

"Are you being serious or are you just pulling my leg?" Ellie asked.

He turned and looked her in the eye.

"Dead Serious. Her logic is sound, plus we could help you out on missions. You aren't the only one who wants revenge." Ryan said.

"You'll have to talk to her. It's not my decision." Ellie said gesturing to Alestra.

Ryan walked over to her and, after a brief lapse of nervous rambling began to seriously consider Melanie's plan. Ellie couldn't hear what they were saying but the two of them were both very interested as all four of Alestra's arms began gesturing rapidly. They finished their talk as Zach and Melanie returned with Zach looking defeated and sad. Ellie got to her feet and walked over to them.

"Hey buddy, it's ok." She said patting him on the back.

"No it's not. I either be an ass about this or I let one of the few people I care about become something I can't accept." Zach said glumly.

"Why can't you accept it? Just because we look a little different?" Ellie asked.

"N-no! I…" Zach said struggling to find any words.

"You don't have a reason for hating what I am other than the way I look." Ellie said.

Zach said nothing but stared at the ground like a child being scolded. Melanie tossed her arms up and walked over to Alestra and Ryan. The Broodmother ushered them into the cavern once more while Ellie and Zach followed. She had each of them stand in one of the carved out alcoves. Then she ran her hands along the edges of the alcoves and a hard clear substance grew out of the stone. The wall like substance generated liquid that slowly filled the alcove. Melanie and Ryan both looked at the others anxiously.

"It is merely water with nutrients and proteins. I already injected both of you with the sequence for your lungs and the numbing agent. You will be asleep in a few moments." Alestra said.

Mel waved to Ellie and Ryan looked skeptical about breathing under the water but both simply leaned against the back of the alcove and let themselves be submerged. They both struggled for a moment but true to Alestra's word, they both seemed to breathe fine under the water. Then they shut their eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Alestra waited for a few moments after they fell asleep before throwing a ball of genetic material into each chamber. The hard clear surface keeping the water inside each alcove became opaque and only a faint blurry shape of the two humans were visible. Zach walked up to the alcove containing Mel and placed his hand against the smooth barrier. Alestra noted his worry.

"The mutations that require them to be submerged will be complete in 36 hours. After that their bodies need time to finish growing and allowing their… armor to harden." She said.

Zach said nothing but nodded. Alestra walked over to Ellie and took the girl to one side.

"I believe my presence when your friend awakens would cause alarm. I shall be on the bottom level if you wish to speak to me." Alestra said as she walked out of the cavern.

Ellie watched her go. She could smell the wonderful scents coming from the base of the tunnel but she had to stay at least until Terra was awake. So she walked over to Zach and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her just in time to receive a blow to the jaw.

"What the hell?!" He yelled as he popped the joint back in place.

"You idiot. Do you realize how much thought Mel put into this?! And all you did was complain like a brat!" Ellie growled.

"I don't want her to do this! Everyone in the core worlds thinks you're monster! I didn't want her to deal with that to!" Zach yelled.

"Yeah? Well let's see who's opinion she cares about more? I'm one of her best friends, have been for a long time. So have you. What's the difference between us? You've been sleeping with her! She cares about you that much and all you've down is call her an idiot and spit on her decision! If we weren't friends I'd kill you right now." Ellie said coldly.

Zach stared at her as he grasped what she was saying. He silently got to his feet and walked over to the other Terrans and leaned against the wall. Ellie threw up her hands in exasperation. She stormed out of the cavern and ran down to the bottom level.

The 'market' was actually carved out of the stone floor with the 'stalls' being carved stone with varying sizes, and since the luminous substance along the edges of the cavern were still dim, creating an artificial night, there were very few Zerg in the area. Ellie wandered through the stalls and took in the smells of the area. There were a few that reminded her of perfumes that stuck up kids in her class had used and others that smelled like foods. She stood for a long time in front of the stall that smelled exactly like pizza loaded with garlic. After a few hours she found Alestra, communicating with what appeared to be a humanoid roach female.

She had a human looking face but three eyes and the extra limbs coming out of her back made it blatantly obvious what she had been. She also had grey, rough looking skin but she looked friendly enough.

"Ah here she is. Ellie this is Olette." Alestra said.

"Hello." Ellie said kindly.

Olette made a series of clicks and hisses and tilted her head.

"Ah yes. I forgot about that. Ellie come here." Alestra said.

Ellie walked up to Alestra in confusion. The Broodmother placed two of her hands on Ellie's temples and closed her eyes.

'Can you hear me?' Alestra's voice asked inside her mind.

'Yes.' Ellie said both out loud and in her mind.

'I'm connecting you to our Psi network. It's how I communicate with the others. Try to speak to Olette.' Alestra said.

Ellie focused on the female Roach and seconds later she heard a surprisingly feminine voice inside her head.

'Testing? Can you hear me?' Olette asked.

'Yes. Your voice is a bit different than what I expected.' Ellie said.

'Well not all of us want a raspy voice like Alestra. So you are the one who broke us off from the swarm? Thanks, it's nice to know we can do something other than kill.' Olette said with a vicious looking smile.

'Olette is one of the ones who helped dig the cavern. She is the leader of the Roaches among the Brood.' Alestra explained.

'So each species has a leader?' Ellie wondered.

'Yep. I lead the Roaches, Zed and Zra lead the Zerglings. U is the boss of the Ultralisks. So far Jace is the rep for all the aerial species, and Hyl is the leader of the Hydralisks. Cress is the commander of the Queens. We all answer to Alestra.' Olette said.

'Huh. Political structure. Never would have expected that.' Ellie said.

'Yeah, I can see why. Zerg aren't known for organization. You know, I was thinking, new concept for me, that we shouldn't call ourselves Zerg anymore. Or at least add something to it like, Intelligent Zerg. Or maybe, Evolved Zerg.' Olette said.

'I don't know, whatever we call ourselves it's going to have to win over the Terrans or we are just going to end up fighting the Dominion. It's going to take a lot of work to keep them from attacking us. Even more so for the Protoss.' Ellie said.

'True. The Protoss will burn all the inhabitants of a planet if they spot even a few Zerg organisms. If they found this planet, I fear we would be quite easily eradicated.' Alestra said.

'Yeah, keeping a low profile is probably the best strategy. I do like the underground city. Who came up with that?' Ellie asked.

'Alestra did but I was the one who figured out how we could do it. A few mutations later, we had a few dozen roaches spitting acid and carving out the caves.' Olette said.

'How come you're so smart? No offense to the others but some of them seemed a little… off.' Ellie asked.

'Many of them could not process the barrage of information you gave them. They have gotten better but some of them will not be able to recover.' Alestra said.

'Others like me absorbed the information and we have expanded on it. We became the leaders.' Olette said gesturing and Ellie noticed that she only had three fingers and a thumb on each hand.

'Huh good to know. So Alestra, you had things you wanted to ask me about?' Ellie asked.

'Ah yes. I would like to make a copy of your genetic material. Namely for the biological traits that Zerg lack. Vocal cords, advanced taste receptors… those kinds of things.' Alestra said.

'Well sure you can make a copy. But don't you have vocal cords? Isn't that why you can talk?' Ellie asked.

'My vocals are not designed like a humans, if the swarm used mine as a base, they would all have the same body shape as me. I do not believe any of them would want that.' Alestra said.

'She's right. She's to spindly, I may not be as big as U but I like the way I look.' Olette said.

'Alright don't bore me with the details. Can you just make the copy here?' Ellie asked.

'Yes it should only take a moment. If you stand still I can do it right here.' Alestra said.

Ellie put her elbows on the counter of Olette's stall while Alestra's hands poked her taking samples of her genes.

'So Olette, how did you make the banner?' Ellie asked.

'Alestra made it. She's very good at weaving. We retrieved some of the plants from one of those oasis' and she figured out how to weave the plant fibers into cloth. Or at least something close.' Olette said as Alestra finished taking her samples, the last being from Ellie's neck.

'So are you going to use that to let them all speak?' Ellie wondered.

'Yes. This should be a simple mutation, merely growing a set of small muscles. Minimal pain, time for it to become effective, about two hours.' Alestra said.

'I'll volunteer to be first.' Olette said.

Alestra absorbed the ball of genetic material then created a new one that was only a fraction of the previous one. She touched the ball to Olette's neck and it absorbed into her skin. The Roach female doubled over for a second before looking up with a wry grin.

'That stings a little bit.' She said.

'Good to know. Does it still hurt?' Alestra asked.

'Its fading now. Yeah you were right minimal pain. Okay I'm good.' Olette said.

'Good report any pain or complications to me.' Alestra said.

'Will do. You hear that?' Olette asked cocking her head to one side.

Ellie and Alestra listened closely and they heard it. The sound of human screaming in Terror.

"Terra." Ellie said and she took off towards the ramp to the upper levels.

**So you guys have NO idea how long I've wanted to get to this point in the story. This was the idea that I had literally last July when I had the first inklings of this story. Originally it was the beginning but it's changed a few times since that first draft. Also this is going to be two chapters because they're both pretty dialogue heavy. Also before I get complaints on the description of the cave system, picture the roman coliseum. Now hollow out and level out the stands and add bubble areas on the outside of those. Now stack six or so of those on top of each other. The arena is a straight shot all the way down. There is the description outside the story. Also thank you all for making this my most popular story. If you have any suggestions then please let me know. Last note I swear. I truly cannot think of a decent sounding name For the new type of Zerg. Toss ideas out to me. I need a creative jumpstart. Alright, I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. See ya.**


	11. Alive and Well

**Alive and Well**

When Ellie arrived the screaming had stopped, so that was a bonus. Unfortunately Terra was awake and freaking out. Syra was trying to calm her down but Terra either couldn't hear her or wasn't listening. She was to busy staring down at the Zerg carapace that covered the front of her body.

"Out of the way." Ellie growled as she walked over to the twins.

"Ellie she won-" Syra stopped as Ellie punched Terra in the face.

The girl blinked a few times then looked around blankly.

"Ellie? Syra?" She asked.

"Terra!" Syra cried as she threw her arms around her sister.

Ellie took a step back, just out of Terra's reach, and watched as Syra celebrated her twins revival. She also saw money changing hands among the other squad members.

"How'd you do that?" Alicia asked.

"What? Oh getting her to calm down? I saw Jim do that in the bar when Tychus was getting angry. Solid blow to the face and the big guy calmed right down. Don't know what to do when she notices the chitin again." Ellie said.

It took another 30 seconds for Terra to notice the chitin again and instead of freaking out she glared at Ellie.

"I would've rather died!" She growled as she swiped at the girl.

Ellie was out of reach but still backed up slightly. Then she threw up her hands.

"Wasn't my call. Only my idea." Ellie said defensively.

Terra took a few seconds to process that then looked at her sister.

"You let them do this?!" Terra roared at Syra.

"It was better than losing you! After what happened to Mom and Dad you should know that!" Syra roared back and her electronic voice box crackled with static.

The two sisters gave each other deadly glares and the others watched, waiting for one to give. Eventually Terra turned her head away. Terra tried to get to her feet but she was still in her Marauder suit and the servos had stopped working after she had been blasted. She groaned as the attempted movement caused the metal rods fused into her body to flare up in pain.

"Well it didn't fix everything did it?" She growled.

"We had to wait for the mutation to finish. Now we can cut you out because you can heal the damage." Alicia said.

"Fine. You guys are leaving though." Terra said to the male members of the squad.

The grumbled but turned and walked out into the main cavern. As they exited Alestra came in. She walked up next to Alicia and Ellie.

"She is responding well?"

"Just a bit angry. Well maybe more than a bit." Ellie said as Terra started yelling about being stuck in her suit.

"I see… well I should introduce myself." Alestra said as she walked over.

Terra looked terrified when she saw Alestra but a few minutes of reassurance later she calmed down again and Alicia and Alestra began to work on removing Terra from her suit. Ellie walked out to where the guys were and leaned against the railing next to them.

"Hey, how're you guys doing? Need any food?" She asked.

The raiders held up plastic tubes and she grimaced. She had tried the energy paste that the soldiers ate in the field and it was revolting. Zach looked like he was starving but he had found a pen and a pad of paper somewhere, probably from the ships. He was sketching something and when Ellie tried to sneak a peek he closed the pad.

"It's not ready yet." He said as he walked a few feet away and started sketching again.

Ellie crossed her arms in annoyance and walked back down to the bottom of the cavern. She wandered through the stalls long enough that the cavern lit back up to day brightness. She eventually found Olette's stall again and the female roach waved when she saw Ellie.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ellie asked.

"Oh you know, other than still getting used to talking, fine." Olette said in Ellie's voice.

Ellie's mouth fell open as she heard Olette speak. It wasn't like an impersonation it was her voice.

"That's weird. You sound just like me." Ellie said.

"Yeah I believe Alestra will find a way to adjust my vocal cords so that I sound like I do in my head." Olette said with a terrifying smile.

"It's got to be strange with what you sound like when you think and how you sound." Ellie said.

"Yeah well I can deal with it. So what's going on up there?" Olette asked.

"They are getting my friend out of her Marauder suit. She's not reacting well to being partially infested." Ellie said.

"Huh, I can get that. Your memories do show how the Terrans view Zerg. I'm not sure I can understand how you felt when it happened." Olette said.

"Yeah I don't want to go back there. Being in that chrysalis…" Ellie shuddered at the memory.

"Well I have something set up that you might enjoy." Olette said as she climbed over her stall counter and stood next to Ellie.

Ellie took a good look at her now that she was fully visible. She had three eyes and mandibles on either side of her human like mouth. Her general form was a well built human female roughly six feet tall though she had parts that made her easily identifiable even from a distance.

Where her neck connected to her shoulders, a guard like protrusion came off, similar to how a roaches head was sucked into their body like a turtle. The gray hard exoskeleton covered most of her body and she had four fingers on each hand. Her legs bent backwards at the knee and she bounced slightly whenever she walked. Her feet were shaped similar to tennis shoes, no toes but flexible and tough.

"Done staring?" Olette asked.

"Uh yeah. Sorry." Ellie said.

"Don't be. I don't look like any other creature in the colony. Even other mutant roaches." She said as they began walking.

"Really? None of them are like you?" Ellie asked.

"Not a one. Most of them walk kind of hunched over and have four arms. I chose differently." Olette said as she lead Ellie up to the cavern's second level.

She walked up to a cave entrance that was ten feet tall and just as wide, much smaller than any of the other cavern's she had seen so far, and the two of them entered it to find a few other mutated Zerg standing around.

"Ellie, these are the other species leaders." Olette said and the other Zerg all stared at Olette in surprise at hearing her speak.

"Yes I can talk. Go ask Alestra when she gets done helping the Terran. For now let's get to what we came for." Olette said.

The biggest Zerg stepped forward and rolled it's shoulders. It was the same one that had carried Terra down into the Caves. Ellie thought for a moment trying to remember what Olette had called it.

"You are… U, right?" Ellie guessed.

It nodded and tapped it's head. Ellie tilted her head in confusion.

"He wants you to link up with them so they can talk to you." Olette said.

"Oh, uh how do I…?" Ellie asked.

"How did you communicate with Alestra when you first met her?" Olette asked.

Ellie focused for a few seconds and reached out with her mind. She felt all the mutants in the room and gently touched their minds. A buzz ran through her mind as she felt them. It wasn't like they were one creature but it was an intimate feeling, almost like a family.

'You are the one who freed us from the Swarm, yes?" A raspy voice asked in her mind.

Ellie looked at each of their faces trying to figure out which had spoken. She stopped on a lean figure who had long spindly arms that ended with half formed claws instead of proper hands. It had the same dreadlock like hair that Ellie did but it's reached down almost to its knees. It stood up straight but seemed to have some sort of growth on its back, which bulged out a few inches. It's face had only eyes and all five of them watched her with interest.

'Uh yes. That was me.' Ellie said.

'Then we owe you our thanks.' It said bowing.

The others either bowed or nodded to her. Olette clapped her hands.

"Okay, now let's get to the fights!" Olette said.

"Fights?" Ellie asked.

'What was it? Me vs Hyl?' A deep booming voice echoed through Ellie's mind.

The big guy shifted so that Ellie could see his face. Two orange eyes peered out through an armor like face. A hole for its mouth revealed a mouth like a junk crusher from hell. At least three rows of razor like teeth were inside. The rest of his body looked like a solid mass except when he moved when you could see the body move, it made him look like the worlds largest action figure. Six very large thick fingers were on each hand, four regular fingers and two thumbs. He stood across from another vaguely human creature.

It's head extended far above and back from its face. It's mouth also went very far back, almost to its neck, giving it the appearance that its jaw was hanging unattached. Two slits opened where it's nose would be. Two red eyes stared out with far more intelligence than one would expect. It's arms were very odd. One was human like, with five fingers, but the other ended with a bone like appendage that held a razor blade like bone to it with a few fleshy strings. It's body had a series of holes along its rib cage and it stood on two legs with a lizard like tail.

'I'm not losing this time U." It said in a hissing female voice.

'We'll see Hyl.' U said as he smashed his hands together.

There was no buzzer or signal, the two of them just began moving suddenly. U charged directly for Hyl and she ran to the side and the holes in her torso shot out a few Hydralisk spines. Most of the spines bounced off U's armor like shell but one stuck into his shoulder joint and he growled in pain. Hyl ran up behind him quickly and leaped onto his back. She used her claw arm to hold on by his neck and she grabbed the razor bone and held it to U's throat.

'So big guy, give up?' She asked as the bone cut into U's shell.

'Yes.' U said sadly.

Hyl released him and he walked over and slumped against the cavern wall.

"So Ellie want to try?" Olette asked.

"Heh, no way. I'm not that good." She said nervously.

"Oh come on. You can do it." Olette said.

"Fine. I'm not at my best right now but I'll try." She said as she stretched her arms.

One of the hunched over twins walked up to her.

'I am Zed. May I be your opponent?' He asked.

"Sure." Ellie said.

She cracked her knuckles and neck as they walked to the middle of the cave. Zed was about ten feet away and Ellie extended her blades.

"Ready?" She asked.

He nodded and they ran at each other. Ellie was trying to hit him with the flat edge of her blades. But he was far to fast for her to hit. He leaped over her and weaved around her strikes with ease. Ellie began to get frustrated very quickly and she retracted her blades and tried grabbing him. She scratched his arm and smiled.

'Gotcha.' She said.

'Tch.' He replied.

Zed scratched her repeatedly on her stomach and arms. When her blood was running out on the stone floor he stopped.

Ellie was gripping her stomach as it flared in pain with every breath. She hobbled over to where Olette was standing and grimaced at the Roach.

"Ow." She said.

"Yeah, Zed is the fastest in the colony. Nobody keeps up with him except other Zerglings." Olette said.

"Thanks for the heads up." Ellie mumbled as she sat down.

She looked down to see her wounds already closing up. It was still strange to be able to watch her body heal itself so quickly. She groaned as her head started aching again.

"What's wrong?" Olette asked.

"Whatever Tosh gave me to help with the backlash is wearing off. Ow." She said as it throbbed.

"What's Backlash?" Olette asked.

"Urgh, it's a build up of Psionic Energy in the brain. Any time someone use Psionic abilities a bit of the energy remains in the brain. If you get to much built up, say fighting an Archon, then it will forcibly discharge. Leaving the person with a splitting headache for a few days. Ow." Ellie said.

"Simple explanation?" Olette asked mimicking the question Ellie had always asked teachers.

"It's my brain having an electrical heart attack." Ellie grumbled even though she knew it wasn't accurate.

"Gotcha. Huh…" Olette said staring off into space.

A few seconds later she looked over at Ellie.

"Alestra's coming down here. Your friend… Zach wants to speak with you." She said.

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Ellie asked rubbing her temples.

"She said something is interfering with your psi abilities. Maybe I'm dumb but it could be your backlash." Olette said.

"Maybe…" Ellie growled.

They watched the others fight for a few minutes and Ellie began to notice that they all fought using styles she had seen in training videos or cheesy movies that had survived from earth. Zed was like a ninja, he avoided all of his opponents attacks and struck when he could. Jace, the freaky clawed creature, preferred to fight from a distance and throw glaives at his opponents. U simply charged and tried to crush them. Then Olette stepped in. She would dive underground and attempt to drag her opponent after her. If she couldn't, such as with U, then she spit acid on them. Ellie was particularly glad she hadn't fought Olette.

Alestra and Zach arrived a few minutes after the last fight when all of them were sitting around, wounded or exhausted. Alestra walked past Hyl who's bone arm was in pieces that were slowly growing back together. Zach however looked horrified.

"She says it looks worse than it is." Ellie called over to him.

He hurried over to her alongside Alestra. She had healed the scratches from Zed and was now only dealing with her Backlash.

"So what did you want to talk about she asked.

"He has a request." Alestra said.

"I listened to you. Thought about it. I'll do it. But I have questions for you two." He said.

"Very well." Alestra said and Ellie nodded.

"The biggest question that I have is how do we stay ourselves? I mean whenever Terrans get infested, they aren't people anymore, they're more like zombies than anything else." He said.

"True. That has always been a problem for the swarm. I was wondering that to. I mean Kerrigan and I are still ourselves, somewhat." Ellie said.

"That was a problem that only the swarm had. They seek control of their Broods. Humans are far to independent to be successfully assimilated without breaking their will or removing everything but basic motor functions. As such, I simply refrained from modifying the Terrans minds. Well, other than adding them to the Psi network." Alestra said.

"So no modifications?" Zach asked.

Alestra placed a finger against his forehead. He backed up quickly but a spark passed between her finger and his skin.

"What did you do?!" He asked frightened.

'Hey Zach, don't freak out okay?' Ellie said Psionically.

Zach gripped his head and looked over at Ellie.

"Did you… what the hell?!" He cried.

"Hey guys, you can talk to him now." Ellie called out to the others.

They obviously had a lot to say as Zach started spinning around looking at the Zerg. He gripped his head.

"What's happening?" He asked.

"They are talking to you Psionically. That was the extent of my mental modifications to the other two. You can shut out their voices if you focus for a few seconds." Alestra said.

Zach stood very still for a few seconds then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Silence." He said happily.

"You said you had other questions, what are they Zach?" Ellie asked.

"Well…"

**And that's the opening for a Q and A. Any questions so far about what's going on, Lore or anything that's happened, I will answer or attempt to with the least amount of spoilers possible, if any. Also thank you all for following this story, I honestly did not expect anyone to actually like this when I originally posted the idea. See ya.**


	12. Return to the Raiders

**Return to the Raiders**

**So I'm back… This chapter wasn't as easy flowing as I thought. So here you go nearly twenty pages of story. Also if anyone is frustrated by the lack of things being explained below, literally no one left anything they wanted to know about. And now that we are back onto the actual story of WoL I should be able to write the next chapter before November.**

"…actually all of my questions are for Alestra. I know Mel and Ryan talked to you for quite awhile before they were Mutated. So I'd kind of like to discuss some things with you." He said.

"Of course. Just one second please." Alestra said as she walked to each of the species leaders and injected their necks.

They all rubbed the spot in annoyance as the Broodmother walked up to Olette.

"Can you change my voice?" The Mutant Roach asked.

"I shall try." Alestra said placing one of her long needle like fingers against Olette's throat.

Olette gasped a few times and when Alestra removed her finger she bent over coughing violently.

"Ugh… that was the worst feeling." She said in a voice that matched her internal one.

"But it was successful. I shall endeavor to improve the process." Alestra said as she walked out with Zach.

Ellie sat next to Olette as the Roach massaged her neck and tried out her voice.

"So what's going to happen to us?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked.

"Well, the Terrans, Protoss and Swarm all want to kill us. For different reasons but they do want us dead." Olette said.

"Then we remain in hiding until we can defend ourselves. Or we try to reason with them. From what I understand, Jim helped Mengsk overthrow the confederacy. Who's to say he can't topple another corrupt system." Ellie said.

"Well they might accept you, you were human. The rest of us? We are Zerg through and through. Sure we think for ourselves but that's even scarier isn't it? We don't operate as a machine, we act like humans." Olette said.

'True but from what I've seen from Ellie's memories, we still lean towards that machine like precision." Jace said.

"How so?" Ellie asked.

'Well this telepathy, our Psi Network you could call it, is useful for a bit more than just communication. It's not a conscious thing but we can feel each other. It's not like oh, that's U standing five feet behind me. It's more like I can tell that Hyl is a few feet away and what she is feeling.' Jace said.

Ellie focused for a moment and found that Jace was right.

"So it's like the hive mind. In at least that it connects us." Ellie said.

"Correct. If we had a way to sense exactly where the others were then we could be a very effective fighting force." Olette said.

'I believe Alestra can sense our locations.' Hyl said.

"That's because she was the brood mother. If we all could do that…" Olette trailed off.

"Well if only a few can do it then they would be like a Terran Commander. Directing the troops on the battlefield. Of course, they have holo maps of the battlefield…" Ellie said.

"Hmm… interesting idea though. I wonder if Alestra could do that..." Olette said.

"I don't know. But I'm going to see how Terra's holding up." Ellie said as she rose to her feet.

The Zerg Mutants waved or growled as she left and she rolled her shoulders as her last cuts and scrapes sealed up. When Ellie arrived at the cavern where Terra was located she found the Terran woman out of her armor and stretching. Her chitinous areas were finally hardening and becoming the dark brown that was common among Zerg. When she saw Ellie she gave the girl a stern look. Ellie stood very still as Terra walked over and towered over her.

"Hey Terra how're yo- OOF!" Ellie said as Terra punched her in the gut.

Ellie went sailing backwards and landed with a heavy thud. She got up with a groan as her head throbbed.

"Just can't catch a break today…" She grumbled as Terra charged at her.

She jumped out of the way and Terra ran past her like a freight train. Ellie tried to hold the angry woman in place with her Psionics but when she tried to use them pain shot through her head. So she reduced herself to simply holding back Terra's attacks. She grabbed Terra's fists and the two of them stood locked in place.

"Why did you do this to me?!" Terra hissed.

"I wasn't about to let you die. If you want to die now then it's your choice. But I'm not going to make it easy for you." Ellie said.

Terra tightened her grip and swung Ellie over her shoulder and threw her into the air. Ellie collided with the cavern wall and she she felt her nose break. Blood ran down her face and she picked herself up and faced Terra.

"What that's all you've got?" Ellie said as she pulled out a loose tooth.

Terra cracked her knuckles as she approached Ellie. Ellie gave her a wry grin when she reached the younger girl. Terra grabbed Ellie by the throat and pinned her against the wall. Ellie struggled to escape her grip and gasped for air.

"If you ever try to save my life like this again then I will finish it." Terra said with a cold stare.

She released her death grip and Ellie fell to her knees coughing and gasping for air.

"Won't happen again. Promise." Ellie said.

"Good. Now where are the others? I'm sure they're eager to get out of here." Terra said.

"You can't just leave Terra." Ellie said.

"I know. But if they know I'm okay then they can head back to the Commander. I have no intention of going back, at least for now." She said.

Ellie leaned against the cavern wall as Terra left to find the others. A few minutes later Alestra entered the cavern with Zach. The two of them walked over as Ellie put her nose back into place.

"What happened to you?" Zach asked.

"Derapy for Derra." Ellie said still gripping her nose.

"Ah, yeah I didn't think she was just going to accept it." Zach said.

"She will be trouble…" Alestra said.

"Not to much. She's just angry at me. So Zach, you sure about this?" Ellie asked.

"No, but this is about as sure I can possibly get. I'm ready." He said.

"Then may I ask you to remove any extra clothing? As I told the other two it could cause problems." Alestra said.

"Yeah." Zach said as he awkwardly took off all of his clothes except for his underwear.

Ellie crossed her arms looking unimpressed.

"Briefs really?" She said raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up. You don't even have to wear clothes anymore. You only wear that suit because you think it looks cool." Zach said.

Ellie grabbed his arm and twisted it.

"I do not. My transformation was not complete. If you can't figure out what that means then I swear I will…" She let the threat hang in the air.

"I think I'm ready." He said quickly.

Alestra led him to an open alcove next to Melanie and Ryan's. She sealed him in and in a few moments the carapace had turned opaque and a silhouette was barely visible behind it.

"He will require a longer mutation time. Though Melanie and Ryan are maturing faster than I had expected. They may be awake before nightfall." Alestra said.

"I thought you knew what you were doing?" Ellie asked.

"I do. They are just growing faster than Zerg. Strange. I will have Olette and Hyl bring Sustenance. They will be hungry when they emerge." Alestra said.

"Hope it's better than military rations." Ellie said as she remembered the gray paste that the raiders had brought with them.

"I believe so. Rest now. I can sense your pain. You need to recover from your backlash." Alestra said.

Ellie sat dawn next to the alcoves containing her friends. As she leaned back against the faintly warm stone she closed her eyes and within moments she was asleep.

Nightfall

Melanie awoke and looked around at the jelly like liquid surrounding her. It was warm and peaceful but she felt different. Looking down she could see she still had all of her hands. All four of them. Wait… it took her a moment to realize that was to many hands. She started to panic and smashed her hands against the chitin carapace wall. The chitin cracked and with another blow she shattered it. Mel slid out onto the cavern floor and tried to get to her feet only to slip and land on her stomach. She looked around and noticed that it was darker than when she had gone in. She also noticed that she could see farther to her left and right. After a few times of trial and error she managed to get out of the slime and onto dry stone. Mel looked around excitedly and noticed Ellie sitting next to her former alcove. A line of drool hung out of the Psionic teen's mouth and Mel walked over and shook her friend awake. Ellie looked at her groggily.

"Mel?" She asked sheepishly.

"In the… chitin?" Mel asked jokingly.

"Good one." Ellie said as she rubbed her eyes and stood up.

"So how do I look?" Mel asked spinning slowly.

Ellie looked her over a few times and nodded affirmatively.

"You are by far, the prettiest Zerg ever." Ellie said.

Mel pouted and crossed her arms, which unintentionally caused her to cross both sets of arms. Ellie stifled a laugh and Mel fumed. She pointed angrily at Ellie ready to go on a rant but Ellie just burst out laughing when her second set of arms followed her primary arms after a few seconds of delay.

"It's not funny!" Mel growled.

Ellie wiped away a tear and put a hand on Mel's shoulder.

"Oh the arms aren't the only thing you have more of. Can you see my hand?" Ellie asked as she held her hand out of her view.

Mel saw it perfectly fine. Which she realized she shouldn't be able to do.

"Let's see, you have… four extra eyes. A set on each temple." Ellie said pointing.

Mel reached up and waved a hand in front of the extra eyes. She grinned slightly.

"Well it could be worse. I could have gotten your looks." Mel said as her grin widened.

Ellie smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mel.

"You'll be fine. I mean what kind of Terran wouldn't be won over by your charm?" Ellie said sarcastically.

"So anything else you can see that's different? I don't have a tail or something right?" Mel asked.

Ellie looked at her closely and grabbed at Mel's stomach. Mel tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It looks like a few of Alestra's spider legs. They're wrapped around you and their stuck!" Ellie said as she pulled on the leg.

"I can't feel them… are you sure they aren't just weird growths or something?" Mel asked.

Ellie ran her fingers along the leg and followed it up to Mel's back. When her fingers reached the end of the leg Mel shivered as her chitinous fingers ran along her shoulder blades.

"It's yours alright. You really can't feel this?" Ellie said and Mel heard her walking the legs.

"No. I mean your pushing on me so I feel that but I don't feel the legs. Are they just growing out of my back?" Mel asked, seeing how that could make sleeping difficult.

"Not at random. You've got two sets, both of them look connected to your spine. They're here and here." Ellie said tapping two spots on her back, one between her shoulder blades and the other a few inches above her waist.

"That feels strange." She said as she could feel everything around the legs, now that she was aware she realized that there were dead spots on her back, most likely where the legs were.

"Maybe we should go find Alestra. She can tell us about this." Ellie said.

"Yeah, what about Ryan? Shouldn't he be done soon to?" Mel asked.

"Nah, he's got a bit. Alestra's been monitoring you three, you changed the fastest." Ellie explained.

Mel nodded then noticed what Ellie had said.

"Three?" Mel asked.

Ellie pointed at the newly occupied alcove with Zach inside. They both walked up to it and Mel placed her hand against the barrier. Even though he was barely visible they could see Zach place his hand against the other side.

'Argh! You were right about pain!' He said.

Mel gripped her head as she heard his voice.

'You've been awake? How long?' Ellie asked telepathically.

'A few minutes. I think when Mel busted out.' He said.

"What's going on?! I hear you in my head!" Mel cried.

"It's okay Mel. They call it the Psi network. It's like short range telepathy." Ellie said.

Melanie looked utterly confused but closed her eyes and reached out with her mind.

'Zach?' Mel asked.

'Hey. Uh sorry about earlier…' He said awkwardly as he grunted in pain.

'I think this makes up for it.' Mel said with her arms crossed.

'Yeah, it's no picnic in here. You okay?" Zach asked.

'Of course. You know, a few extras here and there.' She said.

'I'll have to give you a good look once I'm out.' He said.

'Maybe more than a look…' Mel said.

'Okay, I'm gonna go away, and uh tune out this conversation.' Ellie said as she ran out of the cavern.

Melanie and Zach continued to flirt until Zach passed out at which point Melanie left and found Ellie scratching at the rock wall outside the cavern.

"What are you doing?" Mel asked.

"Entertaining myself. Now let's go find Alestra." Ellie said.

The two of them wandered down to the bottom level of the cavern where Alestra was talking with an unmutated Zergling. When they approached the Zergling wandered off and Ellie looked at Alestra with interest.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Ellie asked.

"Of course. What do humans call what I do? Cat naps?" Alestra said.

"Okay so that's one mystery solved. Next question, what's up with these?" Ellie asked tugging on the spindly legs coiled around Mel's torso.

"Hmm… did the chitin barrier dissolve?" Alestra asked.

"No. I broke it." Mel said.

"Really? You must have been in quite a bit of shock to do that. The mutation process wasn't complete. I can cause your body to finish now but it will be very… unpleasant and painful." Alestra said.

"And the alternative is getting sealed in again?" Mel asked.

"Yes. I sense you are reluctant to subject yourself to that again." Alestra said.

"Yeah. Just finish it." Mel said.

"Very well. If you would show me your back." Alestra said.

Mel turned around and Ellie watched as Alestra's needle like fingers stuck into Melanie's back. Mel clenched her teeth and her hands balled into fists. When Alestra removed her fingers Mel fell to her knees and started breathing very hard.

"The process has been accelerated, the pain should cease in an hour or so. Do you require anything?" Alestra asked.

Mel nodded but remained immobile. Then she raised an arm and held it in front of her face. She bit down hard and blood ran down her cheek. Ellie ran forward and shook the other girl until she released her bite.

"Mel what are you doing?!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Basic thing I learned as a kid. Distract your body like that. It ignores other pain. Had you do it when you broke your leg remember?" Mel said panting.

Ellie blinked as she remembered and sighed.

"Yeah well did you have to rip apart your arm?" Ellie asked holding up the injured arm.

A large chunk was missing from the forearm and Mel shrugged.

"It was worth it."

"Ahem. If you are done mutilating yourself I suggest you get back to the others before the pain returns. I will come up in an hour or so. Oh and Ellie, the other leaders would like to thank you for the vocal cord sequence. The ability to speak is something they will treasure." Alestra said as she walked around the bottom ring of the cavern.

"She's a very strange Zerg." Melanie said.

"Yeah, I've been in her head. I know." Ellie said as the two of them worked their way up the cavern.

They arrived and had a short time to talk before Mel curled up in pain and Ellie tried to comfort her. The highlight was when Mel's extra spider legs suddenly extended and launched Ellie a few feet. Mel was in far to much pain to notice or even care about this fact as she hit her head against the stone floor. Eventually the pain subsided and Mel fell asleep lying on her stomach. The four insectoid legs on her back extend nearly eight feet out from her body and twitched as she slept. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief when Mel fell asleep. She breathed steadily and far more peacefully once Mel was asleep.

The Zerg started waking up a few hours later when the cavern brightened again. Ellie started using her claw like fingers to carve stick figure drawings into the stone. She looked in annoyance when Ryan's alcove opened and the rudimentary comic she had been working on was washed over with the growth fluid. He stumbled out and fell to his knees. He seemed a little disoriented as he looked around. Ellie walked over to him and helped him to his feet.

"Legs feel like jelly. Gonna sit down." He said as she helped him walk.

She helped him lean against the wall and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, how do I look?" He asked with a smile.

She looked at him and she smiled.

"Well I'm still probably the only girl who you could get a date from." Ellie said with a sly grin.

He rolled his eyes, which has shifted from their original bright blue to a pale green. Ellie inspected him closely and made a note of his changes. She pointed out as many differences as she could. It was like one of those find the differences puzzles that appeared on the info net sometimes.

His feet were noticeably different. Each foot only had two large front toes and a hard talon like growth was just below the ankle on each foot. His legs were covered in Roach chitin all the way up to his waist where the surface layer became softer and more flesh like. That isn't to say that his upper body was unprotected. The fleshy tissue had evolved for ease of movement as well as defense. Numerous bone like growths covered his chest, like an outward ribcage. Then she noticed the extra arm. It branched off of his back just below the left shoulder blade and was covered in chitin tissue up to what would be its wrist. The rest was a Hydralisk bone claw. The claw followed his left hand similar to Mel's secondary arms. His actual arms were coated in smooth brown chitin and his hands were very similar to a humans except with slightly more claw like fingers. His shoulders had two tubes each that opened up on the shoulders themselves but ran down his back and sank into the flesh about halfway down. The lower half of his face was mostly unchanged. His lower jaw seemed swollen but other than that his teeth were now pointed like Ellie's and he was tapping them together trying to get used to them. The upper half of his face had changed far more noticeably. His eyes were now pale green. His hair had become the same segmented long chitin that the others had though his was noticeably shorter, barely reaching past his ears. He had dark lines running from his ears to the back of his jaw.

"I look pretty good. Now if I could just stand up. How's Mel?" He asked as he tried to stand up again.

"Better. She broke out early. Alestra finished her mutations but it was painful for her. She should be fine once she wakes up." Ellie said.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Better. Backlash is finally gone. Remind me to never breathe in Terrazine." She said sitting down next to him.

"So where is everyone?" Ryan asked looking around.

"They all moved to make camp on the surface. I assume they're sleeping better up there without hundreds of Zerg walking by." Ellie said.

"I can understand that. So Zach's up there to?"

Ellie pointed at the only occupied alcove near them. Ryan stared in shock.

"He went through with it? Really?"

"Yep. He did it for her." Ellie said.

"That's true love." Ryan said with a laugh.

"I guess. So why'd you do it?" Ellie asked looking at him.

"Well, at first I just wanted to be useful. Help out the Raiders. But then I really thought about it, when Alestra and I were talking. If I'm like this, then only one group in the whole Sector will take me in. And your part of that." He said.

"That was almost romantic." Ellie said with a chuckle.

"Oh you know me, full of romant-" He stopped as Ellie grabbed him and pressed her lips against his.

It was a calming and enjoyable moment. Until Ellie yelped in pain and pulled away. She touched her lips and a green liquid came away on her fingers. She flicked it off her fingers and wiped it off her lips as it started eating at her fingers.

"What the? Acid?" He asked.

"I guess. Ow ow ow. Not how I wanted my first kiss to go." She said as she wiped off the last bit of acid.

"Doesn't bother me." He said.

"You've got a roaches mouth. Of course it won't bother you. Ow." Ellie said.

A trickle of green liquid came out of the corner of his mouth and he attempted to wipe it away, only for more to take its place.

"Um, you've got a drool problem." Ellie said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. I'm going to find Alestra." He said as he managed to stand up.

"Wait I know someone better." Ellie said.

She was quiet for a few minutes then smiled.

"Time for you to make some new friends." Ellie said.

She shook Melanie awake and the three of them sat against the cavern wall until a group of Zerg walked up. Olette in the lead with the other species leaders. She grinned while the others looked very interested in Mel and Ryan.

"Hey. So these are the new guys? Melanie and Ryan?" Olette asked.

"Yep. Guys this is Olette, Hyl, U, Zed and Jace." Ellie said pointing to each of the Zerg.

"Nice to meet you." Olette said shaking Mel's hand.

"Hirgh." Ryan said as more acid ran out of his mouth.

Olette took him off to one side and started talking to him quietly while Mel met the others. Once she had met them all she cracked her knuckles and started moving the spidery legs on her back. It took her a few minutes but she managed to pick herself up off of the ground. She stood in the air, her feet dangling nearly four feet off of the ground.

"This is the strangest feeli- ow." She said rubbing her jaw.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked.

"When I talk it hurts. Like something's movin- OW!" She yelled.

She fell to the ground as she lost her focus, gripping her cheeks. Ellie ran up just in time to see her cheeks to rip open. Ellie knelt down beside her and she looked up with tears in her eyes.

"Uh Mel… you've got a little… uh…" Ellie stopped as she saw a mandible on each side of Mel's face.

The mandibles started just below her ears and ran along her lower jaw. The tips angled up slightly just before her front teeth and now they rested on the outside of her face, holding down the torn skin.

"Uuuuurrrrggggghhhhh..." Mel groaned as she wasn't capable of normal speech at the moment.

"Well that looks painful. You okay?" Ellie asked.

"Ugh hug." Mel said with a nod as the damaged skin and muscles started to repair themselves.

Within a few minutes her mouth was healed and her mandibles were pressed against her jaw like some kind of protective guard. Olette and Ryan rejoined them soon after to reveal that Ryan to had mandibles on his jaw. Olette had also showed him a way to control his acid so he wasn't drooling uncontrollably. Ellie smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Well don't you guys look awesome." She said.

"Your one to talk. This is really hard." Mel said as she managed to lift herself off the ground with her secondary legs again.

"Eh, I don't have mandibles. I wonder if Zach will…" Ellie mused.

"Won't know until he finishes in there. How long should that be?" Mel asked.

"Another Day or so. But I'll be waiting a bit longer than that." She said.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"I'm leaving. The others are getting a bit restless. They don't like being here. And I'm back in fighting condition. So we are headed back to the Hyperion." Ellie said.

"Well then I'm going to!" Ryan said.

"No you're not. You can't fight with your body. Not yet at least. Besides Zach will need you guys when he gets out." Ellie said.

"To be fair, you aren't very good at fighting either." Olette said jokingly.

Ellie raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Try me. All of you." She said as sparks flashed in her hands.

The group of Zerg Mutants charged her and her eyes glowed brightly. The whole group was lifted off of the ground and sent flying backwards. Mel and Ryan stared at her.

"You couldn't do that before." Mel observed.

"Yeah, once I started recovering, I felt more in control. It's not so hard to direct the energy now." She said.

"Okay. Take it back. You can fight." Olette said.

"Yeah. Just a bit. Still not gonna be fighting Archons anytime soon." Ellie said.

"Probably a good idea. So you are really going back?" Mel asked.

"Yeah. If they come across any more infested or rogue Zerg I want to try and free them. And Kerrigan might bother to come here herself if she finds out I'm not working with the raiders anymore. I have to get back." Ellie explained.

The others listened and grudgingly agreed. Olette and the others led the way to the surface and Alestra met them at the dropships. When they arrived they found a large amount of the supplies resting outside.

"Hey guys what's up?" Ellie asked.

"Well we figured that since Terra's staying her for awhile she'd want some stuff." Ty said.

"Your staying?" Ellie asked Terra.

"Yeah, wouldn't fit in back with the commander. Plus I figured that the kids need someone to look after them." Terra said.

"We aren't kids Terra." Mel said crossing her arms.

"So that is you? Damn girl, you look different." David said.

"What about me?" Ryan asked.

"Eh not so much. Like the extra arm though." Syra said.

"Thanks." He said glumly.

"Hey that just means you can pass for human." Ellie said.

"I guess."

"So boss, we headed back? I assume that's why everyone's here." Alicia asked.

"That's the plan." Ellie said.

"Not that I don't enjoy roughing it, I'll be happy to get back to the Hyperion. I can almost taste real food." Jenny said.

"We apologize for the less than adequate provisions. We have very little to work with on this planet." Alestra said.

"Yeah, we need a better world than this place. But, Until we can protect ourselves we can't reveal ourselves to the Terrans or Protoss." Ellie said.

"That is the truth. At our current strength and numbers they would simply wipe us out." Alestra said.

"Yeah… so stay hidden. We can't let them know about the main population. They've seen me in action, they know I exist. So I can fight no problem. I just hope we can find a way to be at peace with them." Ellie said with a sigh.

"We will find a way. That is the Zerg way, survive." Alestra said.

"Thanks. I don't know when I'll be back. But once you guys feel comfortable in your bodies head back to the Hyperion. I'll miss you." Ellie said as she wrapped her arms around Mel and Ryan.

"Ah Ellie, I have one thing for you." Alestra said holding out a metal canister.

Ellie took it but looked confused.

"What is it?" Ellie asked.

"The unmutated version of the Zerg Virus. It cannot be cured but your scientists may be able to find a way to save the Terrans. I heard of what happened on Meinhoff." Alestra said.

Ellie nodded somberly. She and the Terrans said their goodbyes as they boarded the dropship. As Ellie sat gripping the metal cylinder she remembered Meinhoff and all her anger at Kerrigan boiled to the surface. She gritted her teeth so hard that a few gave an audible crack.

"You okay Boss?" Ty asked.

"Yeah just remembering why I fight." Ellie said.

"You know, you never told us why you fight. Your one big mystery." He said.

Ellie gave him an icy glare but he was unimpressed. She sighed and slumped back in her seat.

"Back on Meinhoff, Jim let me take a few soldiers to go rescue Mel and the others. But after that I went to my house to find my parents." She said.

"And they were dead. Typical." Scott grumbled.

"They were infested. I tried to break them away from the Hive Mind like I did with Alestra and her Brood. But Kerrigan was controlling them personally. She overpowered me and I had to kill them. I overloaded them with Psionics until their brains fried. I could have saved them if I was stronger than the Queen Bitch." Ellie said clenching her fist.

"And what? The Zerg Virus affects the brain. The only thing that remains is a slight amount of the original person and the motor functions." Alicia said from the pilots seat.

"I don't know that. Maybe the infestation hadn't advanced enough to destroy their minds yet." Ellie said.

"Well can you do anything about it? No, their gone. Move on. You can't change the past. You can live in the present and hope for the future. That's it." Scott said.

Ellie sat quietly for the rest of the trip until they arrived at the Hyperion. It was in orbit around Deadmans port and when they landed they found Swann and his engineers gearing up everything for combat.

"Look who's back. Where're your friends Princess?" He asked.

"Stayed behind. What's going on?" Ellie asked.

"The Cowboys tryin to strike up a deal with Colonel Orlan. Though I think the whole things gonna go south. You might wanna get up to the bridge. They'll fill you in." Swann said.

"Thanks Swann. You guys good to go?" Ellie asked.

"You kidding? After a few days of roughing it? Hell Yeah!" Jenny said.

"Alright gear up for combat. I'll meet you all back here." Ellie said as she ran out of the hangar.

She ran along the Hyperion decks and stopped by the lab before going to the bridge. Dr. Hanson was standing in front of Stentman's research tanks when she walked in.

"Hey Doc." Ellie said.

"Ellie? When did you get back? Are you okay? What about Terra?" The doctor asked.

"Just now, I'm fine and She's better than ever. Just not on the ship. I've got this for you though. Compliments of Broodmother Alestra." Ellie said handing the metal canister to Dr. Hanson.

"What is it?" Hanson asked.

"The base form of the Zerg Virus. She figured it might help you find some way of countering it." Ellie said.

"The base form? This could be invaluable. I'll begin examining it. Thank you." She said.

"Alright I'll see you later." Ellie said as she took off for the bridge.

As she ran through the halls, nearly everyone she ran past tried to ask her where she had been or where the others were. She ran right past them and arrived on the bridge in what had to be record time. Matt was talking with a strange looking pink haired lady and Jim was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh Matthew, you don't even wear your ring… that breaks my heart." She said.

"I'm telling you Mira if I knew what the prize for winning was I never would have sat down." Matt said.

"Oh your breaking my heart." She said as she started a very bad crying act.

"The one made of Ice?" Matt asked sarcastically.

"Oh you always know how to cheer me up." She said.

"Hurhm." Ellie said clearing her throat.

Matt turned around in surprise.

"E-Ellie? How long have you been there?" He asked very flustered.

"Long enough to know that she's your wife." Ellie said with a mischievous smile.

"Who is this?" The pink haired woman asked.

"The names Ellie. I'm a… Zerg Human Hybrid." She said walking up to the Comms station.

"You look like some kind of failed experiment." The woman said.

"Funny coming the pink haired cyborg." Ellie said.

"Ha! I like you. Now Matthew where is Raynor?" She asked.

"Right here Mira." Jim said as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Good, now I just wanted to let you know that the Colonel is planning on selling that adjutant to the Dominion." Mira said.

"Should I ask how you know or why you're telling us?" Jim asked.

"He's trying to hire me. And I would much rather work for you… and Matthew." Mira said.

"Alright then. Thanks for the tip." Jim said.

He cut the connection and turned to Ellie.

"So what happened with you?" He asked.

"Mel, Ryan, Zach and Terra stayed behind. The rest of us are ready to fight. What happened to you?" She asked.

"We robbed a dominion train on Tarsonis. It had an old confederate Adjutant. So we're trying to figure out what's inside it."

"Why bother? What could it have?" Ellie asked boredly.

"Data we could sell for a high price. Or maybe some old confederate resource caches. I mean Mengsk could've missed some." Jim said.

"Alright then. Got a problem with us going down there?" Ellie asked.

"None. Good hunting." Jim said as Ellie walked off the bridge.


	13. Deadman's Port

Deadman's Port

On the ground Ellie was less than impressed by DeadMans Port. Piles of scrap bigger than a house. Junk everywhere. Ellie kicked a small pile of parts.

"This whole place is a junk yard." She said.

A command Center and a Barracks landed near them and Ellie wandered inside Jim's Headquarters. A map of the area was rendering itself.

"Well we know Mira is camped out here. And Orlan's main camp is here." Jim said pointing to places on the map.

"So why not just blow up Orlan now?" Ellie asked.

"To heavily defended and we need him to crack that Adjudant. We need an army but we don't have time to outfit our troops. We need Mira to win this." Jim said.

"Then hire her with an IOU." Ellie said.

"Ha! Doesn't work out here kid. We need to pay her up front. So while we load up on minerals, I've got a job for you." Jim said.

"And what would that be, Commander?" Ellie asked in a playful tone.

"Orlan has three mining camps set up here, here and here. I want you guys to wipe them out." Jim said.

"Do I get anything out of this? Other than new bullet wounds?" Ellie asked sarcastically.

"I'll join in the next time karaoke is at the bar." Jim said.

Ellie immediately turned around and walked out.

"I'm holding you to that." She yelled to him.

Jim shook his head as he started giving out orders to his troops. Ellie and the others were just about to leave the base when Mira came on over the comms.

"Oh, you boys left these last time you were here. I've kept them in perfect condition for you, and Matthew." Mira said as a Dropship flew over their heads.

The ship landed and out sped a few familiar metal shapes. Half a dozen vulture bikes, in perfect condition revved up and ready to go were before them. The riders got off and boarded the Dropship which took off towards Mira's base.

"Are those Vulture Bikes?" Ellie asked.

"Hell yeah. Those are the bikes we used back when we fought against the confederacy." David said.

"Really? They're ancient." Ellie said with a whistle.

"Uh, so what's so special about them? Swann says they were death traps." Ellie asked as they looked over the bikes.

"Nothin special. Just a bit safer design. The commander saved our asses a few times on one of those." David said.

"Really? Jim you were a real war hero?" Ellie asked sarcastically over the comms.

"Ha ha. Now you can use those bikes to get to Orlan's command centers fast. I'm sending you all the coordinates for each camp. Get over there and wreck'em all. Then we can set up our own mining operations." Jim said.

"You got it. Alright guys lets go." Ellie said as she climbed on a bike and revved the engine.

They took off out of the base and raced towards the base to the west. A little less than halfway there Ellie stopped and stared at a crashed transport. She could feel something resonating in the pile. The others stopped and looked as she walked towards the pile. She held out her hands and lifted the massive ship out of the way. It crashed to the ground and Ellie walked into its spilled cargo. She found just what she was looking for and waved the others over.

It was spherical with blue lines running across it. It was hollow and hummed slightly. From the ground it came to Ellie's knee.

"Protoss Tech. One of you want to pick that up?" She asked.

"Why not you?" Jenny asked as she and Ty lifted the object.

"I don't want to damage it or activate it. Especially if it's a bomb or something." Ellie said.

They loaded it onto a Vulture and then continued towards the base. When it was in view they got off the bikes and inspected the base.

"Looks like only a few guards. Probably has the bulk of his forces guarding the main base." David said.

"I've got eyes on two Firebats, three- no four marines, and two medics." Jenny called.

"So what's the plan?" Alicia asked.

"Hmmm, Ty, Syra, you two take Sarah and get the Firebats. The rest of us will go after those marines. Take'em out then we can destroy the command center." Ellie said.

"Got it." They said and they split up.

Ellie gripped her rifle and began walking towards the command center. The others followed with their guns ready to fire once they were in range. When they were in full view of the enemy they took off into a sprint and started firing. Two of the marines and a medic went down immediately. The other marines trained their weapons on Ellie and the others. They managed to unload a clip at the Raiders before they to went down. When the enemy were dead Ellie opened her Comms and contacted Ty and Syra.

"You guys good?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, they went down easy. Let's blow this place. We got two more." Ty said.

"Wait on that." Ellie said.

She walked up to the Command Center and found that one of the sealed doors was slightly ajar. She pointed it out to the others and David laughed.

"You ain't gettin that open kid. Those doors are to thick to blow open and the locks'll hold'em in place." He said.

Ellie frowned as she shoved her hands into the crack and pushed as hard as she could. To everyone's surprise, the doors creaked and they could hear the locks creaking under the strain. Ellie stopped as the door shifted slightly.

"That. Was. Easier. Than. Expected." Ellie said as sweat rolled down her face.

Her eyes glowed green and she blasted the door with Psionics. They bent inwards and Ellie smiled at David.

"To hard? Yeah right." She said with deep breaths.

"Well..., not all of us can have god powers." David said with a chuckle.

"Yeah well, can you guys handle it from here? I need to sit down." Ellie asked as she wobbled on her feet and sat down.

The others went inside to secure the building while Alicia stayed with Ellie. The Medic looked down at her with slight concern.

"Did you overdo it?" Alicia asked.

"Not yet. Just still recovering. That Terrazine messed up my head. I feel so much more powerful, but when I use my powers, they use up my reserves way faster than I expect. Something easy like lifting that transport isn't to bad, about as taxing as usual, but that blast I just did? Way more power than I could muster before Bel'Shir but it takes so much outta me. I'll talk to Tosh when we get back to the ship." Ellie said as Alicia handed her a rag.

Ellie wiped the sweat from her face and tied the cloth around her head. Alicia unsuccessfully tried to hide a laugh.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"You just look like one of those commando's from those ancient holos from Earth. It's hilarious." Alicia said.

"Really? I've never seen those ones. Now I've got something to do. Oh that's better. A little rest goes a long way." Ellie said as she stood up.

"Tell me if you feel faint. I'll give you a Stim." Alicia said.

"I'll keep it in mind." Ellie said as the others came out of the command center.

"Well, Orlan's guy shot himself after his guys got taken out. The Commanders got some guys headed this way to man the base. He said for us to head out for the next one whenever we're ready." David said.

"Alright. Let's get the bikes and head out." Ellie said.

She called Ty and told him the plan and they headed back to the waiting Vultures. Once they were off they headed directly to the north where Mira's compound sat. Directly outside her base was One of Orlan's mining camps. This one was not nearly as well guarded, only a few marines. Ellie and the others dispatched them easily and started walking towards the Command center. When they were within a hundred feet the Centers roof opened up and out of it came a massive turret. The guns aimed down at them and Ellie immediately tried to shoot at it.

"Girl bullets won't work against that thing! Ty, Syra! Blow that thing to bits!" David yelled.

The two marauders sent a volley of grenades at the turret and managed to cause the turret to rotate and miss its target. The ground a hundred feet to the left exploded and

"Get against the building!" Ellie said and they all took off running.

Ellie reached the building first, thanks to not wearing any armor. She pressed herself against the side while looking back at the others. The turret was almost back in position and the others were nearly at the wall... Except for Alicia and Sarah. Sarah was limping along practically dragging one of her legs while Alicia tried to drag her to the building faster.

"Ty! Syra! Buy them time!" Ellie yelled as she reached out to grab the two medics psionically.

Alicia saw what she was doing and shook her head. She grabbed Sarah and threw her as the cannons fired. Alicia disappeared as the explosion surrounded her and smoke and dust obscured the area. Ellie pulled Sarah to the building with her Psionics as tears stung her eyes. Then she stopped caring. Stopped caring about pain. The others saw her body surrounded by a green glow and wisely backed away. Ellie held out her hands and green energy danced along the sides of the command center. She smashed her hands together and the center crumpled like a tin can. It fell to the ground as a chunk of metal and blood no more than five feet wide. Ellie swung her arm sideways and the hunk of metal flew out of site. The others stood back and watched, wary of upsetting her further. Then Scott saw movement a few feet from the crater where Alicia had been. He ran over to find her still alive, minus a few parts.

"HEY! SARAH! FIONA!" Scott yelled.

The other two medics ran over and gasped at Alicia's wounds. Ellie turned and saw her and ran over as well. The damage was extensive. Alicia's left leg had been blown off, even part of her hip was gone. The right half of her helmet was broken and her face had burns across it along with pieces of her face shield embedded in her skin. Her right leg was missing halfway down the thigh. Her left arm was missing it's armor and burned pretty badly. Her right arm looked undamaged which was at least something.

"Hey guys." She croaked with a frightening attempt at a smile.

"Alicia how many fingers am I holding up?" Fiona asked as she kept both hands down inspecting the wounds.

"None. Standard test. If I guess. I'm delirious. Or stupid." Alicia said with a chuckle.

"Well. She's still aware enough to know that. That's good. Very good." Sarah said.

"We can't treat her properly out here. We need to get her back to base." Fiona said.

"Then do it. Someone go get a bike. Sarah take her back. The rest of us are headed to the last sight. I'm gonna make these guys pay." Ellie said.

"Ellie, as much as I want to get them back, I feel like we need more than just us to bring down another Command Center especially if they have another one of those guns." Jenny said.

"It's true Ellie. I was talking to some guys back on the Hyperion and we got some tech that we could put to good use." Ty said.

"Fine." Ellie growled as she walked a few feet away and opened up her Comms.

"Jim?" She asked.

"Hmm? Ellie? You sound a bit shaken. What's up?" Jim asked.

"We took the first base fine, but the second had some hidden guns. Heavy cannons. I'm sending one wounded and a medic back to stabilize her. Ty said you got something while we were gone that could help us." She said.

"Hmm, yeah Diamond backs could help. I'll have to make a few and send me your way." Jim said.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." Ellie said.

"Be careful out there." Jim said.

Ellie walked back to the others and explained what was going on as Sarah made sure Alicia was secured to her bike and took off. Then they all took off on their vultures and tore north to find the last mining camp.

It wasn't hard to find. But it was well defended. Bunkers, missile turrets. And another of the heavy cannons mounted on the Command Center.

"Jim, we're here. They've got some pretty tough defenses. Your guts on the way?" Ellie asked.

"They should be arriving any moment. If you can secure that point then there's no way Orlan will be able to afford Mira. Your medics just arrived. I'll keep you posted." Jim said as he cut the connection.

Ellie looked at the others.

"Alright so when those diamond backs arrive we take care of the bunkers. That way they can focus on the command center. Agreed?" Ellie asked.

They all nodded and she gripped her rifle in preparation. In just a few moments the diamond backs tore into the base and their mounted rail guns started blasting away at the command centers gun. Ellie and the others ran out at the bunkers and emptied rounds into them. Ty ran up to one and rammed his grenade launcher into the gap. There was a moment of pause before the top of the bunker flew off and smoke curled from the remains.

Within a few minutes they had eliminated the defenders and the diamond backs had punched enough holes in the command center that Ellie could see clear through it. They had a few injuries. Ellie had a few bullets in her abdomen and she pulled them with a few grunts of pain. The others had a few dents in their armor but nothing major. Ellie sat on the remains of a bunker and called Jim while Fiona checked them all over.

"The last camp is down." Ellie said.

"Good, we should be able to pay off Mira in an hour or so. Your medic is on her way to Hyperion right now. It doesn't look good kid." Jim said.

"How bad?" Ellie asked.

"Every Medic we've got rated her survival at zero. I'll do what I can but it looks bad. I'll have the boys at your position in a few minutes." He said.

"Thanks Jim." Ellie said.

"What's up? She gonna be okay?" Syra asked.

"They said it doesn't look good. Fiona how would you call it?" Ellie asked.

The medic was quiet as she used her laser scalpel to close up Ellie's wounds.

"I'd say that she would be dead before they could operate. Zero chance." Fiona said.

They were silent and Ellie balanced her rifle on her shoulders. She wanted to kill someone. Make them pay. But there wasn't anyone around.

"Incoming." Ty said.

They all looked up to see a group of Orlan's men headed their way. Ellie didn't bother standing up. She held out her hand and clenched her fingers so tight that it hurt. The enemy troops flew together and were crushed against each other. The effort of focusing that much power made Ellie nearly faint. She propped herself up with her rifle and took a few deep breaths.

"Holy shit." Scott mumbled.

"Since when are you that strong?" David asked.

"Terrazine. Changed me. Stronger. Less endurance." She said between breaths.

"Are you alright? Need anything?" Ty asked.

"No. Just. Catching. My. Breath." Ellie gasped.

Then she leaned over and threw up as the Psionic backlash hit her mind. It wasn't as bad as when she fought the Archon but it still hurt like hell.

"Ellie? Ellie?" Fiona asked as she shook Ellie.

"Huhn?" Ellie asked vaguely.

"Ellie can you hear me?" She asked.

Ellie nodded. Fiona made her sit down and she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Your nose..." Syra said.

"Huh?" Ellie asked as she touched her nose to make sure it wasn't gone.

Her fingers came away with blood on them. She looked up at Fiona who was now shining a light into Ellie's eyes.

"No damage to your eyes but something definitely hurt your head. Did your nose get hit during the fight?" Fiona asked.

"No… what's wrong?" Ellie asked.

"Either you just happened to get a nose bleed after killing those guys or something damaged the blood vessels in your head. You've got bruises here and here. You are going back to the ship." Fiona said pointing at Ellie's cheeks.

"But-"

"No buts. I know that Psionics can cause physical damage. If this is a result of using your powers then only two people might now a way to treat it. Now get going." Fiona ordered.

Ellie grumbled but did as she was told. She climbed onto a vulture and shot off towards Jim's base. She passed a group of Jim's forces on the way back and wished she could go with them. When she reached the base she had to admit that she did feel a little strange. Her head hurt but not like it usually did from backlash. It was a physical pain. It felt like her head was crushing itself. She walked into Jim's command Center rubbing her temples. The Commander himself was on a holo call with Mira.

"I'm telling you Mira the minerals are on their way. Can't you just attack Orlan now? We need to stop him from getting that Adjudant out of the port." Jim said.

"Maybe if you connect me with my husband." Mira said very childishly.

Jim sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ellie walked up and was about to speak when her legs turned to jelly. Jim turned around saw her lying on the floor in a daze. Mira chuckled at seeing Ellie.

"Ah the experiment returns!" Mira said.

Ellie felt sick and didn't speak. She just gave Mira the finger. Jim helped her up and she mumbled her thanks.

"Fiona said you were headed back. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Brain hurts. Hard to talk." She said sounding almost drunk.

"Damn it. Mira I'll speak with you later. Matt get me Tosh!" Jim ordered into the comms.

Jim had Sarah come to the Command Center to inspect Ellie. Her brain had several spots where blood was leaking and causing the pain in her head. Within a few minutes Tosh was in touch.

"What's up?" Tosh asked.

"Ellie has some kind of brain damage that appeared after she used her Psionics. Do you know anything about this?" Jim asked.

"It be the Terrazine. She musta breathed in a bit more dan I thought. To much energy in her head. Just treat it like a normal brain injury. I can help her afta dat." Tosh said.

"Anything until then?" Ellie said as she groaned in pain.

"Nah, it's all physical. Nothing much ta do." Tosh said as he cut the line.

Ellie spent the next two hours in pain as Sarah drained the excess blood from her head and started treating the injuries. She was relatively normal when the word that Orlan had been captured came in.

"Wonderful. We can leave the scrapyard." Ellie said happily.

"Please don't move to much. You still have a hole in your skull." Sarah said as she continued watching blood drain into a bucket and a number of Ellie's vital statistics.

"Sorry it's hard to tell since its numb." Ellie said.

Jim looked at Ellie with more than a little concern. She had been having blood drained from her skull for an hour and a half.

"Is she gonna be okay with losing that much blood?" Jim asked.

"Apparently. I've been monitoring her blood pressure. It went down when we first started but it's slowly rising back up. Her regenerative properties are restoring her blood as fast as she's losing it." Sarah said.

"Amazing. So how you feeling kiddo? You okay to ride back up to the Hyperion?" Jim asked.

"I think so." Ellie said looking at Sarah.

"She should be fine. Might be a bit of blood on your floor though." Sarah said.

"That's fine. We'll be off in a minute." Jim said as he walked back to the main control console.

The Command Center lifted off the ground and began flying back to the Hyperion. Ellie and Sarah did their best to keep her blood from spilling onto the floor during the very rough trip out of the artificial atmosphere. When they landed back on the Battlecruiser Ellie was carried, protesting the whole way that she could walk perfectly fine, to the med center. When they arrived Ellie looked around hopefully for Alicia but the medic was nowhere to be seen.

"Is Alicia alright?" Ellie asked as they scanned her head.

"She's alive." One of the doctors said.

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as they finished their scan. After ten minutes or so when they were sure that her brain had stopped bleeding and had covered the hole in her skull they let her get up and walk around.

"How's Alicia?"  
"She'll live. But her legs are gone. She could get Cybernetics but… we don't have that kind of money or equipment. Sorry." He said.

"It's enough to know that she'll live." Ellie said.

Ellie wandered down to the lab after that. They had rigged up the Adjutant in an alcove and it appeared to be non functional. Jim was standing in front of it with his arms crossed.

"Hey boss." Ellie said as a joke.

"Hey kiddo. Wanna see what's on this thing?" Jim asked.

"Definitely."

"Alright let's see what's in that tin head of yours." Jim said.

The Adjudant turned on and looked at the two of them.

"Jim Raynor, Marshall. Current staus Terrorist with the Sons of Korhal led by Arcturus Mengsk." It said.

"Unknown. Zerg Bio signature detected."

"Alright old girl lets see what you've got in that head of yours." Jim said.

"Retrieving files of new Gettysburg defense."

"Accessing intercepted New Gettysburg Transmissions 0081 to 0086 alpha.

"This is Duke. The emitters are secured and online."

"Who authorized the use of Psi Emitters?"

"I did lieutenant."

"What?! The confederates on Antiga were bad enough but now your gonna use the Zerg against an entire planet?! This is insane!"

"She's right man, think this through."

"I have thought it through, believe me. You all have your orders, carry them out."

"I will not be stopped! Not by you or the confederates or the Protoss or anyone! I will rule this sector or see it burnt to ashes around me!"

After that the Adjudant was silent.

"Holy hell, we can nail Mengsk to the wall with this!" Jim exclaimed.

"Jim was that…" Ellie asked remembering the voices.

"Yeah, that's where we lost Kerrigan. All because Mengsk abandoned her." Jim growled.

"So that's why you hate him so much?" Ellie asked.

"It's one of the reasons." Jim said.

"Well then, I guess we both have our reasons." Ellie said.

**So yeah that's Deadman's port I am really sorry this chapter took so long but between school and life I haven't had much time to write. I promise that once school is out for break I'll be writing more. As always if something is out of place or I missed anything let me know. Alright cya later.**


	14. Xil

Xil

**Due to a legacy of the Void showing us so many differences in the Protoss factions I will be referencing some of their units that are specific to their factions. Since in the WoL campaign you only ever fight Tal'Darim it will be just them for awhile. Also just a general heads up, I will be changing the ending of the story from what the LotV campaign has. I personally do not like what happened with Kerrigan in the end so it will be different and once I get past the WoL campaign section, the story may pick up the pace since I will be able to direct the story more freely. **

Ellie sat in the upstairs section of the Cantina. It had been a week since the mission on Deadman's Port and she was catching up on the news. So far the Raiders were "A major Threat to the Dominion", refugees were apparently exaggerating the threat the Zerg presented, and UNN had lost contact with Kate Lockwell after a mission to the planet of Haven to report on the refugee population.

So only one thing that was possibly accurate.

Ellie took a sip of her drink, something that Tosh had been mixing up to help her body become a bit more resistant to her Psionics and supposedly flush the Terrazine out of her system. Whatever it was it tasted like cherries so Ellie wasn't complaining.

The door opened to admit Jim just as a goal was scored on the Tv. Jim made his way through the group and up to Ellie.

"What's up?" She asked as she rocked her chair back and forth.

"Got contacted by the Moebius boys. They found another artifact." Jim said.

"Really? What's the plan?" She asked as she downed the last of her drink.

"Well the Moebius guys sent in a team but lost contact. I was hoping to find out what we're dealing with." Jim said.

"How?" Ellie asked.

"Swann's workin on a cloaking suit for you based on the ghost design. Should be ready by the time we get to the planet. You feelin up to a little recon?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. Tosh said that it'll be a few months before the Terrazine effects wear off completely but as long as I don't use my powers in extreme ways I should be fine. Cloaking is very low energy." Ellie said.

"Alright. We also got the designs for the new model of siege tanks so if you get in trouble down there we'll be right behind you." Jim said.

"Alright. Should be a few hours. Go check in with Swann in an hour or two. He'll get you geared up." Jim said as he stood up.

"Jim, you okay?" Ellie asked as she watched him.

"I'm fine." He said.

Ellie was silent but watched him as he left the cantina. She had caught him in the cantina very late at night since she had returned. She brushed the thought aside as her communicator beeped.

"What's up?" She asked as she answered.

"Alicia is waking up. You may want to be here for this." The doctor said.

Ellie hopped down from the balcony and power walked to the medical bay. Alicia had been under in a medically induced coma since the doctors had operated on her. Now they were lifting it because the major pains from the surgeries should be gone. She found Alicia's room and walked in. The medic was lying on her back still strapped to the bed. She turned her head as Ellie walked in.

"Hey boss. So give me a straight answer. How bad is it? I'm so numbed up I can hardly feel a thing." Alicia said.

"Your legs are gone. They managed to fix your arms but we don't have the kind of equipment to attach cybernetics." Ellie said.

"I figured at least one leg. How far up?" She asked.

"The hip. You had the upper half of one of your legs but they couldn't keep it. To much damage." Ellie said.

"I see. How long was I out?"

"A week."

"Damn. Must've been way worse than I thought. You mind undoing these straps? I need to move or I'm gonna go crazy." Alicia said.

Ellie undid the bindings and Alicia sat up, wincing as she used her left arm which was still recovering from its burns. She pulled up the sheets to look at where her legs had been. A tear rolled down her cheek and Ellie wrapped her arms around Alicia. She stayed there for an hour before Alicia fell asleep again.

After making sure that she was asleep Ellie headed to the armory where Swann was waiting with Tosh.

"Hey Princess what's up?" Swann asked.

"Jim said you had something for me?" Ellie said.

"Oh yeah. Bit of Ghost Armor modified under Tosh's specifications." Swann said looking to the Spectre.

"Ya, bit o Spectre gear mixed in. Designed to keep your powers from breaking your little head did time sistah." Tosh said.

"I thought that's what those drinks were for?" Ellie said.

"Nah dats ta get rid of da Terrazine. Still gonna take awhile to get dat out of ya system. Dis'll keep ya powers from damaging ya brain. And help ya focus ya powers with less energy." He said.

"So I won't use as much energy? And I won't fry my brain?" Ellie asked.

"Exactly."

"I'm on board for that." Ellie said.

Swann handed her a suit similar to what she had been wearing but it was more similar to Tosh's, black design green lines running across the outside, a HUD that she could remove at will and a new rifle that seemed much more sleek than her old one. She took the armor and quickly changed before climbing onto her dropship and flying it down to the planet. She landed on a plateau near the Moebius dig site and contacted Jim.

"I'm on the ground. Didn't see anything on my way down." She said.

"Keep your comms open. I want to know if you run into trouble down there." Jim ordered.

"Yeah Yeah Cowboy." She said as she disembarked and activated her cloaking module.

The device sucked at her energy, a small amount but definitely noticeable. It took her a moment to get used to the feeling before she walked to the southern edge of the plateau. Nothing to notice, east had a great view of the Moebius base camp. To the north an old Protoss Shrine stood against the skyline. The west was just a series of cliffs. She circled around the plateau again before noticing a shimmering effect to the northwest. She walked over and pulled down the HUD from her forehead.

"Holy Shit." Ellie said as she looked through the scanner lens.

"We're getting the visual from your HUD now. What's wr- Damn." Jim said.

Underneath the revealing lens a cloaked Protoss base was revealed. Ellie could see a few dozen Archons, High Templar, and even a Carrier.

"Jim? How the hell are you planning on doing this?" Ellie asked.

Jim was silent for a few minutes before responding.

"If we deployed Siege tanks on the cliff where Ellie is then we could cover the Moebius landing site. We would only really need to worry about that Carrier… Ellie? Anything at the Moebius base we could use?" Jim asked.

Ellie walked along the cliff until she was looking over the base. All of the structures were unpowered but appeared to be in working order. Ellie didn't see anything that could really be of use until she realized that the monstrous machine casting a shadow over the base was in fact a machine and not a small mountain.

"Um boys? What is that?" Ellie asked focusing in on the machine.

"Holy shit. A Drakken Laser Drill? How much cash does Moebius have cowboy?" Swann asked.

"So that thing can take out the carrier?" Ellie asked.

"Oh yeah. That's like having the power of a Sun at your fingertips." Jim said.

"Nice. Now you might want to get down here. Quick." Ellie said.

"Why?" Jim asked.

"This thing just noticed me." Ellie said noticing a small machine floating towards her across the plateau.

"That's an observer. Shit. Swann start deploying siege tanks to Ellie's position. Ellie, get down to the base. It's defenses will have to do until we can get troops on the ground." Jim ordered.

"You got it." Ellie said running back to her ship.

She flew down into the defunct Moebius base and pried open the Command Center doors. Hyperion's Adjudant took control of the base's systems and gave them to Ellie.

"Attention Specialist. Manual direction of the Drakken Laser Drill is recommended." The computerized voice said.

The holographic map in the center of the Command center glowed to life and marked all of the enemy locations. Ellie tapped one of the archon images and the drill turned to face it. After a brief start up time the drill fired and the archon was gone in a flash of red energy.

Ellie smiled at the destruction. She slid her finger across the Protoss base and watched as the drill decimated the Protoss numbers. Ellie opened her Comms.

"You better hurry Jim. If you take to much longer there won't be any Protoss left." Ellie said with a laugh as she destroyed another section of the Protoss forces.

"Be careful Ellie. I wouldn't put it past the Protoss to try something." Jim ordered.

Ellie finished wiping out the Protoss base and stood smiling to herself as the drill shot its beam at the Xel'Naga temple. Until a psi blade was emerging from her chest that is. She looked behind her to find a Protoss dressed in red and black that had cloaking tech. A red Psi blade was sticking out of her chest directly between her breasts. She could feel the burning blade at least cutting one of her lungs as she gasped and blood ran out of her mouth. She grabbed the Protoss' arm and threw him backwards. He looked shocked as she extended her arm blades and rammed one into his face. He disappeared in a flash of red, leaving behind his psi gauntlet. Ellie stumbled back to the holo map and turned on the scanner. A second Protoss base was shown on the map and Ellie gripped her chest as she carved a path through it with her finger. When Jim and the others arrived she was leaning against the wall breathing heavily after her body had finished healing the damage from the psi blade.

Jim ran up to her when he arrived.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"Cloaked Protoss snuck up on me. Guess he thought I was dead. He thought wrong." She said as she held up the Psi Blade gauntlet.

"Looks like you got yourself a trophy. You okay?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. Can we keep the laser? I like it." Ellie said as she rose to her feet.

"We don't have the credits or resources to keep that thing powered. And I doubt Moebius is just gonna let us keep it. Sorry kid." He said.

"It's fine. I wonder if I can use this…" Ellie said sliding the gauntlet onto her arm.

"I doubt it. Kerrigan tried it once wh-" Jim stopped as Ellie managed to create a foot and a half long blade of sparking green energy.

The gauntlet didn't fit on her arm very well however and she had to hold it in place. Jim stared.

"Nice job. Want to go see what's in the temple?" Jim asked.

"Hell yes." Ellie said.

The two of them walked to where the raiders were transporting the Xel'Naga relic from the temple. Inside light filtered into the temple and gave it a very uneasy feeling. In the main chamber Ellie could feel energy similar to her own swirling through the walls.

"This feels so strange. It's like this place is alive… feeding off me." She said suddenly feeling uneasy.

She was about to run out of the temple when something drove into her mind like a spike of pure pain. She screamed as a presence filled her mind.

'You hold great power. The power of the Void flows through your veins. You shall serve me well.' A voice boomed inside her head.

'No…' She said weakly.

Back in the Temple

Jim was staring at Ellie as she was surrounded by red energy and the temple shook. He watched as she held out her hand and energy flowed into what appeared to be the back wall of the temple. The wall opened up to reveal a vast expanse of space with a shadow of something massive approaching.

"ELLIE!" Jim yelled as he tried to approach her.

"YOU WILL BOW BEFORE YOUR MASTER PATHETIC CREATURES! I AM YOUR GOD!" A deep booming Voice that came from Ellie and the portal at once said.

Inside Ellie's head

'You shall bow or be destroyed.' The voice said.

Ellie whimpered as she curled into a ball before the overwhelming power of the being.

'You recognize your master. Good.' It said with a laugh.

Every fiber of Ellie's being wanted to lash out or fight back but she could feel this things power. It made her feel like she had a match and was facing a wildfire.

'ELLIE!' Jim yelled.

Ellie could hear him but was unable to do anything.

Back in the temple

Jim reached Ellie and started dragging her away from the portal but with a flick of her hand he was sent flying into the wall. His suit was zapped by red energy that shut it down and left him unable to do anything but watch.

Then a bolt of red energy came from the entrance of the temple. Ellie turned, blazing red eyes and all to see Tosh staring before her.

'YOU DARE TO ATTACK ME?!' The powerful voice boomed.

"It's good ta know dat da voices in my head ain't just me." Tosh said.

He walked through the Psionic energies that Ellie was giving off, using his own to deflect them and placed his hands on her head. Her eyes rolled back and the red energy faded. The portal in the back of the temple closed and Tosh walked over to Jim carrying Ellie on his shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. I just always thought that it was only in my head. I went through trainin to keep dat ting from controllin me. I'm taking da girl to help her." Tosh said.

"Help her how Tosh?" Jim asked skeptically.

"Train her as a Spectre. Da Terrazine was da first step brotha. Now she needs da Spectre training." Tosh said.

"And she won't have another episode like that?" Jim asked.

"Nothin in this world is ever certain." Tosh said with a mischievous grin.

"If you hurt her I'll-"

"You'll what?" Tosh asked mockingly.

The Spectre walked out of the Temple carrying Ellie and laughing.


	15. Changes

**Changes**

**Tosh's Spectre training facility**

Ellie was curled up in a ball still in shock from the episode in the temple. Tosh looked at her and sighed.

"I know. Ya gotta face it. Come on." Tosh said as he carried her off of the ship and towards the facilities.

**One month after Xil  
**  
Jim was on the bridge looking over some of the job offers they had gotten over the past few weeks. A few protection jobs, some sabotage. Nothing worth their time though. And Moebius hadn't turned up anything new.

"Hey Cowboy. Miss me?" A girl said behind him.

Jim jumped as he turned around. Staring back at him was Ellie though she looked different from before. She seemed… taller and older.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.

"An apparent side effect of exposure to Terrazine and Jorium on my genetic material. It caused what's left of my human DNA to mature. On the plus side I've got the body of a Zerg Model." Ellie said jokingly.

Half the men on the bridge were staring at her and she seemed somewhat embarrassed.

"You all remember that I'm only sixteen?" She asked.

That got them all to stop staring at her black Spectre suit.

"You said Terrazine. You exposed yourself to more of that stuff?" Jim asked.

"Refined Terrazine. In small doses. Way less extreme reaction. In fact I feel better than ever. Though the old stuff is still there and it causes complications." Ellie said wrinkling her nose.

"I take it you feel better?" Jim asked.

"Oh yeah. Though I think that's just the Stims. I haven't slept in eight days. It's great." She said.

"That cannot be healthy." Jim said shaking his head.

"I don't know but I feel fine. Oh and Tosh wanted me to tell you that he has a mission for you." Ellie said.

"Well let's hear it." Jim said.

"He wants to break open New Folsom."

There was silence on the bridge. Ellie shrugged and pointed at a spot on the wall and a small bolt of Psionic energy shot from her finger. It hit its target and a grown woman fell to the ground stunned.

"Look I found a ghost." Ellie said drawing her rifle with an experts speed and precision.

The woman growled but activated her cloaking module.

"Stop her!" Jim yelled.

Ellie simply stood around looking at her rifle.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I figure that if she was here then she has some kind of plan for getting out. Plus she hadn't killed anyone so she probably was only hear to get information." Ellie said.

"You just didn't want to chase her did you?" Jim asked.

"Not really." Ellie said.

"Fine, then where is she?" Jim asked.

"She's off the ship. If that's what you mean. Anyway, we should probably attack the prison before she can warn them." Ellie said.

"What makes you think we would attack the highest security prison in the Koprulu Sector?" Jim asked.

"Because if you do then Tosh can train up Spectres for you. And last time I checked you didn't have any specialists in your ranks." Ellie said.

"Tosh really changed you didn't he?" Jim said with a sigh.

"No, the cockiness is just because how freaking powerful I feel." Ellie said.

"So if we do this then Tosh will get us Spectre's?" Jim asked.

"They'll work for you. At least until Mengsk is gone. That's the deal." Ellie said.

"Sir we have a heavily encrypted Transmission coming in." Matt said.

"Put it through." Jim said.

Matt accepted the transmission and a blonde woman appeared on the comm screen.

"Raynor. Don't listen to her. Spectres were decommissioned for a reason." She said.

"Who the hell are you? And why were you on my ship?" Jim asked.

"Terra Nova. Ghost." She said.

"Oh? And why didn't you try to kill me?" Jim asked.

"Wouldn't serve any purpose. But she and Tosh are trying to trick you. Everyone who went through the Spectre program has gone on violent killing sprees." She said.

"Really? And why would I believe you?" Jim asked.

"Because having that many dangerous Psionics in the Sector isn't good for anyone." Nova said.

"Matt get Tosh on the Comms. I'm sure he's listening in anyway." Jim said.

A few minutes later Tosh appeared on the screen.

"You should leave little girl." Tosh said to Nova.

"I'm trying to protect humanity from you. Raynor, Tosh has been using you to fuel his Spectre Program. Everything he's had you gather are supplied he needs to train Spectres." Nova said.

"Is that true Tosh?" Jim asked.

"I was da buyer I admit. But you never asked brudda." Tosh said.

Jim sighed and looked over at Ellie.

"You went through the process. Anything bad? Any uncontrollable rage?" He asked.

"Nope. Just a really precise control of my powers." Ellie said.

"Well alright then. Tosh, you shoulda told me what you were up to but I'm not about to Trust one of Mengsk's pet ghosts." Jim said.

"Ha making a great choice brudda." Tosh said with a laugh.

"You're making a terrible mistake Raynor." Nova said as she cut her feed.

"Matt set a course for New Folsom. Ellie you might wanna get ready. I'm sure Nova's gonna be waiting for you and Tosh." Jim said.

She nodded and walked toward the Hangar. When she arrived she found her squad waiting. Ty and Syra were waiting in their suits while the others lounged around. When Ellie walked up she got looks of confusion.

"Who's she?" Jenny asked.

"Really? You don't recognize me?" Ellie asked with a smile.

"Boss?" Jenny asked as she scrambled to her feet.

The others gaped at her.

"What the hell happened to you girl?" David asked.

"A bit of growth. You guys up for a mission?" She asked.

"What're we doing?" They asked.

"Busting open New Folsom." Ellie said with a grin.

"Your kidding."

"Nope we're en route to the planet now. Still up for it?" She asked.

"Definitley. We got a few fancy upgrades to." Ty said.

"Oh really? As fancy as mine?" Ellie asked as her helmet slid over her head.

Ty's helmet lowered as well and she could see the changes easily. His suit looked more heavily armored and advanced. Less ragtag and more military grade.

"What's new?" Ellie asked.

"This here is one of Hammer Securities suits. These things can take a lot more punishment and deal even more." Ty said.

"Nice. I see the rest of you got some new toys." Ellie said.

Scott and David showed off their new combat shields and Fiona and Sarah showed off their new equipment, faster cellular reparation, more advanced treatments… the works. Jenny unveiled her new armor, a modified Reaper suit that provided a bit more protection than the standard model. Syra had heavily modified her armor alongside Swann, now she was using a fusion of the Firebat and Marauder suits. One arm was equipped with a Flamethrower and the other could fire Punisher Grenades. She was a walking death machine.

"We even got assigned a Squad name from the commander." Ty said.

"Really? What is it?" Ellie asked.

"Gorgon Company." Syra said.

"Cool yet menacing. I like it." Ellie said.

"So boss what new crazy powers you got?" Jenny asked.

"Once we get down there I'll show you. According to Matt we've got twenty minutes until we enter the system. You guys ready?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah. Time to put the hurt on the dominion." Ty said with a deep chuckle.

"Let's do it." Ellie said as they walked toward her ship.

She was stopped by Fiona who pointed toward the hangar entrance. Ellie turned to see Alicia in a wheel chair looking over at them.

"I'll meet you guys there." Ellie said.

She walked over to Alicia and gave the woman a sad smile.

"Oh don't give me that look. I did this myself." Alicia said.

"It's still my fault." Ellie said.

"Get over yourself. I've gotten enough pity. Besides now I can put my Degree to use." Alicia said.

"Oh?" Ellie asked.

"I've been helping Stentman and Dr. Hanson in the lab. I may not be a mad scientist but I definitely can help. So no pity alright?" Alicia said.

"Yeah. Are you okay though? No other injuries?" Ellie asked.

"I'm fine. Well besides the obvious. Though I have amazing arms now. You would not believe the workout pushing this thing around gives." Alicia said.

"So how is it in the lab? I know Hanson is fairly normal but Stentman is kind of…" Ellie trailed off trying to think of a polite word.

"Eccentric?" Alicia provided.

"Exactly." Ellie said with a laugh.

"It's quite fun actually. We've been providing advancements for our technology by studying Zerg and Protoss samples. You might even see a few of them down on the ground." Alicia said.

"Should be interesting." Ellie said.

"Now go on. Go be a hero. I expect to hear about it when you get back." Alicia said.

"Alright. See ya then." Ellie said.

Alicia wheeled her way out of the hangar and Ellie walked towards the dropship.

**Hey guys sorry for the short chapter but this is setup for New Folsom and the rest of WoL. Since the next chapter shouldn't be very long I should have it up soon. Thank you all and leave a review if you feel I glossed over anything or contradict the lore.**


	16. New Folsom

**New Folsom**

**Sorry about the wait. Writers block was being a pain. Anyway I have a question for you guys at the end of this chapter so either leave your responses in a review or PM me. And yes I do read your reviews and try to take in your suggestions or questions.  
**  
Ellie and her Squad arrived just ahead of The Hyperion and they found Tosh waiting amongst a group of dead Dominion Soldiers.

"How did I know you were gonna be here already?" Ellie asked.

"I been waitin for Raynor. We ain't gonna be breachin da facility with just dese guys." Tosh said.

"What do ya mean?" Ellie asked leaning on her rifle.

"Dat Ghost warned dem. Dey prepared for da Raiders. Look." Tosh said pointing off into the distance.

Ellie looked through her scope and saw a wall of bunkers, siege tanks and aircraft.

"So what? Do we wait for them to relax?" She asked.

"Of course not. We sneak and bite dem from behind, they ain't gonna know what's going on. Raynor sends his guys in from da front and we blowin em up from behind." Tosh said.

"Just the two of us? You realize this plan relies on my powers not acting up? Something that has never happened the whole time you were training me?" Ellie said leaning on her rifle.

"Then don't use dem. Ya got da gun and da suit. Use dem instead." Tosh said.

Ellie looked over at her squad.

"You guys okay being the tip of the spear?" She asked.

"No problems here. You watch her. Got it Tosh?" Ty asked looming over the Spectre.

"She don't need me." Tosh said as he activated his stealth module and Ellie followed as she vanished as well.

Ty and the others waited until Jim and the other raiders arrived on the ground before explaining the plan. Jim agreed and the Squad moved out while Jim prepared the rest of the Raiders to mobilize.

They arrived at the first line of defenses to find a skeleton crew. Two marines in each bunker and a single siege tank.

"Syra. You and Scott take the bunker on the right. Jenny and Dave you take the left. Fiona, Sarah you just make sure no one goes down. I'll take out the tank." Ty said.

"Got it." They said and they all took off towards the defenses.

Scott and David kept the marines from firing while Syra and Jenny got in close to destroy them. Ty got right up to the Tank and fired a volley of punisher grenades at its turret, blowing the main gun off of the top. He fired an extra set at the pilot and looked inside the base. It was almost abandoned. A single marine was running towards them, not attacking but out of fear. He was lifted off of the ground and slammed into a nearby wall where he collapsed lifeless. Ellie materialized out of thin air with her rifle holstered.

"How'd it go?" She asked as her helmet opened up.

"That was easy. I thought you said you couldn't take them out by yourselves." Ty asked looking out over the abandoned base.

"A few of them threw grenades to flush us out. A bit of telekinesis put an end to them." Ellie said.

"You are one scary kid." David said.

"I know. But that was lucky. I still get feedback a lot. It ruins my Psionics for a bit and gives me one helluva headache. But I'll take what I can get." She said.

"Commander. The first set of defenses is clear. You're free to move up." Ty said.

"Roger that. According to Matt the second set of defenses are a lot heavier than the ones you took out. Wait for reinforcements." Jim said.

"Copy that." Ty said.

"We got time ta kill. Der's a cell block between da defenses. If we let da prisoners out dey might be willin ta help us out." Tosh said.

"Or they could turn on us." Fiona said.

"What kind a prisoner is gonna turn on the people who lets them out?" Ellie asked.

"Not many. How tough are the defenses?" David asked.

"Not enough ta stop us." Tosh said.

"Fair enough. Let's move out." Ty said.

They moved to the far end of the defensive line and stopped as a newly constructed bunker sat outside of the Cell Block.

"I got this one." Ellie said as she walked forward.

She held out her hand and an aura of green energy surrounded it. There was bone chilling scream from the metal structure as it was compressed into a steel ball along with its occupants. Ellie didn't seem overtly tired from the action but she held a hand up to her head and hunched over slightly.

"Ellie you okay?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah just a bit of a headache." She said.

"Don't overdo it. We still have a job to do." Scott said.

They proceeded on after Ellie recovered and they found the Cell block staffed with a whole battalion's worth of Helions. The only guards were a few marines.

"Line'em up…" Tosh said as he raised his rifle.

"…and Knock'em down." Ellie said as she and Tosh both dispatched two marines.

The others charged towards the remaining defenders. Within a minute the fight was settled with Ellie's squad only having a few new dents. Tosh pulled the lever to open the cells and the prisoners walked out.

"Dis is a prison break. If ta want out den grab a machine and take da fight to da Dominion!" Tosh yelled.

The prisoners charged out and started manning the Helions. As the first prisoners were getting the vehicles operational the Raiders arrived ready to fight.

The Squad joined the attackers as Ellie and Tosh faded away and went to sabotage the next bases defenses. When they gave the signal to attack the raiders and prisoners charged forward and overran the defenses. In an hour they were waiting for Tosh and Ellie to report in on the third set of defenses.

Tosh returned first and gave Jim a run down of the defenses. Siege tanks, production facilities, a whole battalion of standard troops. And what looked like two experimental units.

"Nothing we can't handle with that second block of prisoners. Heard from Ellie? She hasn't reported in yet." Jim said.

"She shoulda been back before me. I'll be back." Tosh said as he ran out.

Ellie was occupied. Very occupied. By the same blond Ghost who had tried to stop them earlier.

They were staring each other down and Ellie was nervous. She hadn't told the others but that Psionic attack on the bunker had worn her out. She still had energy but she had no idea how long her mind would take it.

"You shouldn't have come here, freak." Nova said.

"Oh yeah, Blondie?" Ellie asked.

"Raynor's not escaping this world. He's going to die here." Nova said.

"Oh really? And how're you going to make sure of that?" Ellie asked.

"By making sure you die here. You are an abomination. An enemy of the dominion. I'll execute you myself." Nova said.

Ellie's nerve took that one personally. Abomination? Enemy of the dominion? Well one of those was true but she couldn't take being called an Abomination. She reached out and gripped Nova with her Psionics.

"What?! I'll-!" Nova cried as she was thrown into the distance by Ellie.

"Ha. Have a nice fa- blegh…" Ellie gagged as blood ran into her mouth.

An alarm in her suit started going off, signaling internal damage. Her brain hadn't fully recovered from the damage at Deadman's port and that… thing from Xil had only caused more. Tosh had thought she had healed but that apparently wasn't the case. She opened her helmet as she vomited out blood. Which only served to remind her off her mutation. After the Terrazine had caused her body to grow her blood had taken on an orange tint similar to some species of Zerg. She held a finger to her face to find blood running from her nose.

"Pushed it a little to far. Well… guess I better go back." She said as she shakily got to her feet.

She was making her way back when she ran into Tosh.

"Where you been?" He asked.

"Fighting that ghost. Threw her way off into the prison. I need a break. That hurt." She said.

"She wasn't no pushover. How you doing?" He asked.

She opened her helmet and showed him her face. He didn't seem to surprised.

"Get back to da ship. Ya ain't in any condition ta fight." He said half helping her walk and half dragging her along.

When they reached the base Tosh plopped her down in Jim's command Center.

"She needs ta rest. Fought wid a Ghost." Tosh said.

"You okay kid?" Jim asked in concern.

She gave him a thumbs up. He went back to coordinating the attack.

Inside the enemy base Gorgon Company was trying to deal with one of the Experimental mechs. Their allies were all dead and they were in bad shape. The mechs may not move fast but they had thick as hell armor. David's armor was half blown off and he had bits of metal stuck into one of his arms. He was out of rounds and watching the others battle the mech.

There were dozens of bodies around him and an abandoned Siege tank. He looked over at it and grinned. A few minutes later he was inside it and lining up the shot. When he had the main gun lined up on the mech he fired on it and watched as it collapsed under the heavy shell. The others looked at him in confusion.

"Guess those days operating farming equipment helped, huh?" He asked over the comms.

"Guess so. Commander the way is clear. We've got access." Ty said over the comms.

"Excellent. Tosh get your guys. We'll see to the rest of the inmates." Jim said.

"Tank you mon." Tosh said.

**Back on the Hyperion…  
**  
Ellie sat in her room holding an ice pack against her head. She was not supposed to use her abilities for a few days at least. Dr. Hanson had told her that the extreme amount of Psionic energy her body was producing as a result of her Zerg genes was causing damage to her internal organs. Her exposure to Refined Terrazine had given her far greater control over her abilities but also pushed her body over the edge. She was literally to powerful for her own good. She lay in her bunk groaning in annoyance and pain.

"At least we're good for a while." She said.

And that's when the alarm went off.

**Phew that took longer than expected. Anyway I wanted to ask you guys, I'm going to be throwing names around quite a bit as we go on. And not just Terrans. Terrans, The Mutant Zerg/Terrans… still need name ideas for them, Protoss… would you guys like me to post a chapter every now and then listing characters and where and who they are? I keep a document like that for myself. So just let me know if you'd want it. Prepare for next time where we get to see The Queen of Blades.**


	17. Reality Check

**Reality Check**

**Okay guys, to be entirely honest I was planning on having this out by April 1st. This is not a joke. I was. But I had such a difficult time getting this the way I wanted it, even now I feel like I could do better but if I don't publish it now it's going to be in writing hell, like the Half Life 3 of my stories. So I'm going to post this and check the end for my plan for the summer.**

Ellie ran to the bridge as the alarm went off through out the ship.

"What's going on?" She yelled when she arrived.

"We got an urgent transmission from Moebius. The Swarm is attacking their headquarters. And so is Kerrigan." Matt said.

"And we are heading there?" Ellie asked.

"To get them out of there and keep Kerrigan from getting any vital information. The alarm is because We are preparing to jump there. Hold on to something." Matt said.

Ellie gripped the nav computer as the ship launched into Warp. They arrived in the middle of a Zerg aerial fleet. Matt was typing a message into a terminal before issuing orders to the crew.

Ellie left him to direct their descent and put on her gear. She arrived in the hangar to find her Squad boarding her ship. She hopped in just as the hatch closed.

"Boss you okay?" Ty asked.

"Yeah. Just a bit of feedback." Ellie lied.

"Well we've got a target from the Commander. The Moebius Corps have datacores on where the rest of those Artifacts we've been looking for are. Kerrigan's really close to one of them. So we gotta blow it up before she gets to it." Ty said.

"How close?" Ellie asked.

"Way to close. It's a good thing Dave picked up that tank." Ty said.

"What tank?" Ellie asked.

"The one that's strapped to the bottom of the ship. You didn't see it?" Ty asked.

"I was in a hurry." She said.

"Fair enough." Ty said with a shrug.

They descended and landed on top of some lab next to their target.

"We bring the walls down and the core should go to. They aren't very tough." Ty said.

"I feel her." Ellie said her eyes radiating green light.

"Ellie we can't fight her." Ty said.

"No… she's got people down there!" Ellie said.

"Ellie." Ty said sternly gripping her arm.

She broke away from his grasp and jumped down to the ground. It was easy to find Kerrigan. She was toying with some of Moebius' soldiers. Ellie took a few shots with her rifle which Kerrigan easily stopped with her own Psionic field.

"Oh how cute. A little Terran Ghost thinks they can stop me?" She asked as she killed the soldiers she had been toying with.

Seeing her made Ellie's memories of Meinhoff return. Of her parents. She lashed out with her mind and sent Kerrigan flying into the air with a burst of Psionic energy.

In Orbit…

A single Troop transport entered the system bearing the Raiders colors.

Back on the ground…

Ellie was using her powers as best she could. She was hammering Kerrigan with Psionic blasts trying to rip her to pieces. The Queen of Blades was struggling to counter under the barrage of blows. But sheer rage can only take you so far. After a particularly powerful set of blasts her mind lit up with pain. She collapsed to her knees gripping her head in pain. Kerrigan rose to her feet and walked up to her livid.

She gripped Ellie by the neck and ripped off her helmet. When she saw Ellie's face she smiled evilly.

"The betrayer. The failed experiment. You would have been so powerful if you had become one of us." Kerrigan squeezing Ellie's neck.

"I would rather Die." She said.

"Oh you will. But first you get to pay for taking part of MY Swarm." Kerrigan said.

The Queen of Blades skewered Ellie's arms with her wings and dug a set of her razor sharp tips into the teenager's shoulders. Kerrigan smiled as Ellie screamed in pain and twisted her spiked wings inside the wounds.

Then she jerked her wings and ripped her arms out. Ellie let out a mental scream that ripped through everything. Kerrigan was shaken and the Swarm was disoriented. Jim and the other Terrans felt the Psionic wave and shook their heads at the pain that accompanied it.

In the Skies…

The occupants of the dropship were shaken by the Psionic scream and the pilot ushered the craft to speed up.

On the Ground…

Ellie was gasping and crying at the pain of losing her arms. Kerrigan was shaking her head in confusion as she recovered from the scream. She looked at Ellie in anger.

"You are an imitation created by my order. I'll destroy you myself." She growled as she ran her wings through Ellie.

Ellie gasped in pain as Kerrigan dropped her to the ground. Kerrigan lashed out with her own Psionics making Ellie's head burn with pain.

"You were supposed to help lead the Swarm. Instead you turn against me and fracture it. Die you failed creature." Kerrigan hissed as she prepared to stab Ellie once more.

She never got the chance. A one ton brute slammed into her and sent the surprised Swarm leader sprawling into a damaged building. It roared at her then stood up straight.

"I've got her. Ryan come get her. She's beat up pretty bad." U said.

"Big…guy?" Ellie asked weakly as she tried to look at him.

She was bleeding extensively and barely conscious. Though she could still act surprised when two arms wrapped her up and dragged her underground. She was surrounded by darkness and dirt but couldn't really struggle so she just went along with it.

"I've got you." Ryan whispered.

She relaxed and slipped into unconsciousness as he tunneled his way through the earth.

Raiders' base

Jim ran out to see the Dropship land just outside his Command Center and a few marines pointing their guns at the unidentified vehicle. The ramp dropped open and Melanie, fully human, walked out. Jim was more than a bit surprised.

"Melanie? But Ellie said you were…" Jim said confused.

"Oh she did? I just thought your men wouldn't shoot me on site of I looked like this." Mel said.

She stretched and her skin shuddered as it changed. She grew almost a foot and a half, and revealed her mutated form. The thin spider like legs on her back lifted her off the ground and she smiled at Jim. Her chest was covered by what appeared to be a black body vest and she looked like she had some black shorts of the same material. She crossed her four arms and looked around at the shocked marines.

"You can see how this might have triggered a few shots." Melanie said.

Jim nodded as he stared. She lowered herself to the ground and held a hand to her head. She gasped at something and looked at Jim.

"I need you to tell Dr. Hanson to prepare the medical center." Mel said gripping Jim's shoulders.

"What happened?" Jim asked concerned.

"Ellie. She's hurt bad. Cressidia!" Melanie yelled.

A new creature similar to Melanie but with a few extra arms and no spider like legs. Walked out of the ship. It was smaller and looked a bit confused.

"Yes?" It asked in a child like voice.

"I need you to take the ship to the Hyperion. You can help treat Ellie right?" Melanie asked.

"How bad is she- oh… I can but a few extra hands would be helpful." It said.

"Jim? Can you let them know not to shoot her?" Melanie asked.

"Yeah. How bad is she hurt? Tell me." Jim ordered.

"You'll see in a minute. Just get them clearance. I have something I need to do." Melanie said.

Jim went back into the command Center as Melanie ushered the rest of her passengers off the ship. Olette, Hyl, Jace, Zed and Zira walked out and received many stares. But not as many as the final passenger. Terra stepped out in her former Marauder Suit. They had refitted it for her new form. Her head and face were unchanged, except for her green eyes and Zerg dreadlocks. But her arms, body and legs had been altered. Her arms and legs were thicker than any humans and her hands and feet were massive. Her body was covered in a smooth chitin that reflected the light faintly. Her marauder suit had had much of the plating refitted to protect against outside attacks, leaving the undersides of her arms and legs exposed. The grenade launchers had been removed to allow her hands to fit. She looked around at the marines and frowned.

"Do you really need to stare?! Don't you idiots have anything better to do?!" She yelled at them.

The crowd of raiders dispersed but a few lingered and she began pushing them away. For a moment it was almost comical until Ryan burst out of the ground carrying a gravely injured Ellie.

"Mel!" Ryan yelled.

Melanie ran over and picked up her injured friend. She lightly ran her hands over Ellie to feel out the damage.

"That's a few broken Ribs, more than a few hits to her vitals and her arms gone. Cressidia? Do you think our idea would still work?" Mel asked.

"We'd need Biomass and the sample. Quite a bit more than we thought." The child like mutant said.

"We saw the perfect thing on our way in… take her. Get her to the Hyperion. Treat her as best you can. We'll be up shortly." Melanie said.

"Yes ma'am." Cressidia said as she took Ellie from Melanie.

She boarded the Dropship and was in the air as Jim exited the command Center.

"Where is she?" Jim asked.

Mel placed a hand against his temple and her eyes glowed brightly for a second. She showed Jim Ellie's injuries and the Commander took a step back.

"She shouldn't have come down here. I should've made sure she stayed on the ship." He said.

"Yeah because she's so obedient." Melanie said rolling her six eyes.

"What happened to you? You looked normal when you walked off the ship." Jim asked still processing what was going on.

"Atrophied Changeling strains. I can change my exterior to look like almost anyone, even these clothes are part of me. But it hurts like hell to be cramped into a body that's so small compared to my new one. Speaking of which how do I look?" Mel asked.

"You're seriously asking me that?" Jim asked.

"Please. No one will give me an honest human answer. Zach, Ryan and Terra all just dodge the question." Mel said.

"You could look worse, I guess." Jim said.

Mel shrugged and folded her spider legs into her back as she walked into the Command Center. She pointed to a specific spot.

"There is a Brutalisk here. I need it dead so I can get a sample of it. I need those strains to rebuild Ellie's arms and complete her cellular mutations." Mel said.

"You're serious? You want the single most dangerous species of Zerg? A Brutalisk?" Jim asked.

"The strains in a Brutalisk are the most similar to the ones that were used in Ellie's infestation. They are also the only ones that Queens and Broodmothers can't generate. Hence why there are so few of the monstrosities." Melanie said.

"And you know this how?" Jim asked.

"Jim I have spent the last month experimenting with mutations and gene sequences. I know more about Zerg Biology than any Terran researcher ever could." She said.

"In just a month? Really?" Jim asked sarcastically.

"I had all of Alestra's knowledge on the subject within a day of Ellie leaving. Alestra trained me to direct the others and to be able to repair any wounds they might suffer. That's why I'm down here and not up in that ship caring for my best friend." Mel snapped angrily.

"Alright. What do you need?" Jim asked.

"We need a ship and a pilot. We can handle everything else." She said.

"You got it. How many did you bring?" Jim asked.

"The ones you saw plus U and Zach. They should be arriving soon." Mel said.

"U?" Jim asked.

"They picked their names. U likes to keep things simple." Mel said.

"While we're waiting I have to ask. How're the arms?" He asked.

"What having an extra set? Not to terrible actually. I can move them all independently now. It was so hard to break that habit." She said.

"I just can't imagine." Jim said.

"Well we did alter my brain after Ellie had left. Alestra gave me the mental capacity and thought process of a Broodmother. Meaning I am entirely capable of directing a small army while fighting my own battle." Mel said.

"How does that help with the arms?" Jim asked in confusion.

"I can process dozens of thoughts simultaneously. So doing multiple actions at once is simple." She explained. "I could juggle, coordinate your your forces and be planning out what I want to do later with no real effort."

"That's handy." Jim said.

"Really? Jokes?" Mel asked.

"Sorry wasn't really thinking. The ships ready when you are. Good luck." He said.

Outside the command Center the dropship carrying U and Gorgon Squad arrived and they all exited the ship quickly as U had made the space quite cramped. Zach landed next to the ship looking around at the Terran soldiers gaping at U. The Brute stood a foot above the Marauders even in their battle suits. Jagged Chitin covered his body and his face was an armor like mask. Two green eyes scanned the crowd of soldiers before he looked up at Zach.

"What's the plan?" He asked.

"I think Mel wants us going after that Brutalisk." Zach said.

Zach looked deceptively human in comparison to the others. His eyes were a bright neon blue but they had each been split into three slit like eyes and he had kept his clothes mostly intact save for cutting a few massive holes in the back. He had four tentacles emerging from slots in his back that had barbed tips. His teeth were like razors and he had retained his black hair. He squatted on top of the dropship while U and the others milled about.

Mel walked out of the command center and boarded the Dropship along with the other mutants. The pilot shuttled them over to the isolated area where the Brutalisk was. The team of mutants hopped out of the dropship and Mel looked around. The Zergling twins scrambled up a collapsed wall and growled.

"We can see it." Zira said.

"Alright this thing is dangerous. We need a large chunk of biomass to help Ellie. So we can't just destroy it alright?" Mel asked looking around.

They all nodded and waited for her directions.

"U will be bearing the brunt of the attack with Terra supporting him as necessary. Zed and Zira will do as much damage as they can to its claws and face. Zach and Jace will do what they can from the air. Hyl and I will do whatever damage we can from long range. Ryan and Olette, I want the two of you to tunnel under it and try to collapse the ground to give us an edge. Sound good to everyone?" Mel asked.

"You've got it." They said in a chorus.

U and Terra walked towards the monstrosity while Zed and Zira climbed around piles of rubble to try and approach the creature from its blind spot. Jace and Zach leaped into the air and circled overhead waiting for the beast to be distracted. Olette and Ryan both dove into the ground as Mel and Hyl waited, watching the others get into position.

It ignored them until U roared and charged it. His weight and momentum sent the Brutalisk skidding across the concrete. When it regained its balance it slashed at U and sent him crashing into a pile of rubble. Zed and Zira leaped onto its back and began tearing at it with their claws. Zed bit a chunk out of it and the monster reeled. Jace dropped onto its face and smashed glaives into its eye sending the beast into a frenzy. It looked around roaring in pain. Terra stopped one of its claws from crushing U. Olette and Ryan burst out of the ground as the plaza gave way and the beast fell into a pit. Mel scurried forward and sent one of her spider like legs into its brain from below while Zach did the same from above. The creature shuddered before collapsing. Zach hopped off of its head and shook the spiked tentacle, trying to get rid of the brutalisk's blood. Melanie began working almost immediately as she began cutting off parts of the corpse and copying the genetic sequences to her memory. Moments later Terra and Zed approached her carrying Terran storage capsules. The capsules were meant for provisions but the airtight design made it an almost universal unit. After committing the strains to memory Mel broke the creature down into a usable biomass sludge. The resulting liquid was put into the capsules and when they were full Mel looked around.

"We should be good. Jim? We're done here. How's your mission going?" Mel asked.

"We managed to destroy the second data core but the last one is on the other side of a massive Hive Cluster. You guys are closer than us can you get to it?" Jim asked.

"Yes. Any tips on wrecking these things?" Mel asked.

"There's a power core underneath the main floor. Give that thing a few good hits and it'll fry the whole structure." Jim said.

"Alright. Make sure you get everyone out of here. We've got the last core." Mel said.

The others looked at her.

"Olette, Ryan. You two go get the data core. Tunnel there and detonate the core. Zach and Jace I want you to sweep the Hive and see if any survivors are out there. Meet back at Jim's camp." Mel said as she handed the bio mass containers to U.

She and the others boarded the dropship and headed back to the raiders base as Olette and Ryan disappeared underground. Jace and Zach took to the air and quickly vanished from sight. Melanie, Terra and U carried the bio canisters onto the shuttle as it took off towards the Hyperion.

On the Hyperion…

Cressidia carried Ellie out of the dropship and into the hangar where she was met with a group of engineers with guns pointed at her. She shook her head.

"She doesn't have time for this." She said glancing down at Ellie.

A group of doctors led by Dr. Hanson ran into the hangar wheeling a stretcher as quickly as they could. Cressidia placed Ellie on the stretcher and followed the doctors as the wheeled her out. As they made their way towards the me's bay Cressidia ran alongside Dr. Hanson. She knew of this woman from the others. They spoke highly of her.

"Dr. Hanson?" She asked.

"H-hello." Ariel said clearly uncertain about addressing the creature running alongside her.

"I can assist in healing her but I require your help." Cressidia said.

"What do you need?" Ariel asked.

"A protein mixture. Here." Cressidia said touching Ariel's forehead and showing her what she needed.

Ariel was surprised by the mental connection and recoiled which caused the soldiers accompanying them to train their weapons on Cressidia.

"N-no. It's fine. Just a bit surprised. I'll get it ready." Ariel told her.

Cress nodded as they entered the medical bay. Many of the doctors were surprised and terrified by Cressidia but one patient wheeled her way up to Ellie. Ariel began directing the others to prep what Cressidia needed as the Mutant began inspecting the Ellie's wounds much more thoroughly. Alicia looked at the injured girl and Cressidia with a sigh.

"How bad is she hurt this time?" Alicia asked.

"Take a look. You are miss Alicia are you not? A medic?" Cress asked.

"Have we met?" Alicia asked giving her a sideways glance.

"Not personally no. But Miss Terra gave me memories of you and the others. You are not looking good." Cressidia observed.

"It's not to bad. How are her vitals? I got quite used to seeing her numbers." Alicia asked wheeling around to get a better look at Ellie.

"Her heart beat is erratic, understandably. She keeps fading in and out of consciousness and any attempt to calm her down is met with a flood of pain." Cressidia said.

"What do you mean?" Alicia asked, almost completely certain that Ellie hadn't spoken since entering the med bay.

Cressidia reached up with one of her arms and gently touched Alicia's forehead. The woman felt a faint throbbing in her temple that faded momentarily and suddenly she could feel Cressidia. She could feel her mind.

'Welcome to our Psionic Network. Try reaching out to Ellie.' Cressidia's voice said in her head as she began sealing up Ellie's more severe injuries with a gray liquid from her fingers.

Alicia was shocked but did as the Mutant instructed and focused on Ellie. After a brief moment Alicia was able to sense… not Ellie's thoughts but her presence. She could feel the teen writhing in pain, both physical and mental. Alicia recoiled as pain shot through the connection. It was if her brain was being struck by lightning. Alicia looked up at Cressidia who gave her a sympathetic look.

"She's in quite a bit of pain." Cressidia said as she removed her arms from Ellie.

"Can we help her?" Alicia asked.

"I cannot. The Psionic blast is being contained within her mind. We would require a powerful Psionic and I can sense none aboard this vessel." Cressidia said.

"We need Tosh. But he's off training his Spectres. Will she be okay?" Alicia asked.

"Physically? Yes. If all goes well she should make a full recovery. Mentally? Perhaps. Without her remaining conscious we cannot tell how Kerrigan's attack affected her." Cressidia said holding up her hands in an awkward shrug.

"Then we can only wait. So what are you. You look different from Melanie and Alestra." Alicia said.

"Oh. Melanie is my mother." Cressidia said bluntly.

Alicia blinked a few times and stared at Cressidia.

"Your mother? Look, last time I checked, a few weeks ago, she wasn't a parent. And she's only seventeen." Alicia said.

"To be accurate, I was the first larvae she generated and she infused me with genetic material from herself and Zachary. I am three weeks old." Cressidia said inspecting some of the medical equipment with a child like curiosity.

"My brain hurts." Alicia said confusedly.

"Join the club. Ow." Ellie said hoarsely before she started coughing violently.

"Ellie! How are you?!" Alicia cried.

"Oh god not so loud. My head is killing me. Probably gonna black out in a minute or two. Good to meet ya Cre-" Ellie stopped as she looked down to see the stumps of her shoulders.

She stared at her shredded shoulders before her eyes rolled backwards and she passed out. Cressidia placed her hand over Ellie's heart and her other nimble fingers ran over Ellie checking her body functions. A minute later she stepped back and smiled.

"She'll be fine. Melanie will need to repair her arms but she's stable." Cressidia said.

"Good. Now how the hell are you so smart for someone who is three weeks old?" Alicia asked.

"Memory transfers from Alestra and Melanie. A near instantaneous transfer of information through our Psionic connection." The six eyed child responded.

"So you could create an army from one soldier." Alicia said.

"In theory. I'm the only larvae that has been generated since Ellie liberated the Brood. Alestra fears that if we generate Larvae that we'll become like the swarm. So a bad idea." Cressidia said.

"Quite. You are one helluva medic though." Alicia said.

"Not really. My body can't generate strands or biomass. I can't create anything more than a bio sealant. I need my body to mature. That'll take a few months. So I'm just a… hmmm… nurse?" She asked.

"Based on what I've seen that fits." Alicia said.

"Good. I may have all the knowledge of the others but it's hard to link words to meanings. Ryan helped me learn how to speak. He's nice." She said.

"Ha I think Ellie thinks that to. Based on what I saw on Meinhoff and when we were getting Terra treated she's got feelings for him." Alicia said with a smile.

"That seems to be the popular opinion. Oh they are landing." Cressidia said turning on her heel towards the hangar.

'Cress, is Ellie stable?' Melanie asked Psionically.

'Yes mother. I tended to her more serious wounds as best I could. She is merely awaiting your expertise.' Cressidia answered.

'So this is normal for you guys now?' Alicia asked Melanie, speaking the words aloud and in her mind.

'Alicia? Yes it is. After awhile it became second nature. Oh look marines. I'll be there soon.' Melanie said.

"That doesn't sound to good. Cressidia said.

"No it doesn't." Alicia said as she looked out over the medical wing.

Twenty minutes later Melanie burst in followed by U and Terra. They left the bio canisters with Mel before being escorted out by a group of marines. Melanie placed a hand on Ellie's forehead while one of her extra sets of arms began fiddling with a bio canister. She frowned as bolts of electricity flew off her hand.

"I can't help her mind. Even if I could drain the excess energy it would just go back to her without something else to attract it." Melanie said as she popped open a bio canister and a stench emanated from it.

She dipped her hand into the biological sludge and her thinner frailer hands began working with the sludge.

"What are you doing?" Alicia asked.

"Rewriting the genetic code as similar as I can to hers. We needed a Brutalisk because it's the only creature capable of supporting the level of manipulation that she needs. I already started the process but now I can finish her mutation with this. She'll be more physically capable than before but I can't help her with her Psionics."

Soon Melanie began sucking up the sludge with one of her fingers that was exceptionally long and thin and injecting it into Ellie. By the time she had emptied the containers Dr. Hanson arrived with a group of marines that were carrying a large container.

"Perfect." Melanie said as they sat it down next to Ellie's cot.

Melanie placed Ellie into the container and smiled at her handiwork.

"She just needs to rest and she'll recover." Melanie said.

"What did you do? You pumped her full of that stuff." Alicia said.

"She needed the extra biomass for her full mutation and to regrow her arms. I'm only accelerating the process. Dr. Hanson could I have a word?" Melanie asked.

The doctor nodded and the others left them alone. When they were gone Melanie slumped down to her knees. She looked up at Ariel with a weary look.

"It's hard." She said.

"What do you mean?" Ariel asked.

"Managing people. I'm the leader of a squad of inhuman soldiers, my best friends among them and my three week old daughter following me around." Melanie said.

Ariel blinked as she processed that.

"DAUGHTER?!" She asked hysterically.

"Well I made her. Using my DNA mixed with Zach's. So we've been calling her mine." Melanie said.

"Where is she can I meet her?" Ariel asked excitedly.

"You have. She's the one who brought Ellie in." Melanie said as she got back to her feet.

"That was your daughter? She looks nearly as old as you. Acts like it to." Ariel said.

"Yeah she may have gotten a bunch of memories from all of us. I think it may have affected her a bit more than we could have guessed. She switches between acting like an adult with an air of superiority to a child who is amazed by everything. I hope she evens out eventually." Mel said.

"So she's a product of experiences of many different people. That's truly odd." Ariel said.

"Yeah. But the real reason I wanted to talk to you isn't about her. It's about the Zerg virus. Alestra and I came up with a solution." Mel said.

"You found a cure?" Ariel asked hopefully.

"Not exactly. We made a way to keep people alive. Make it so Ellie could free them, return them to themselves." Melanie explained.

"How? And can you show me?" Ariel asked.

Melanie nodded and the two of them headed towards the Science lab. When they arrived Stentman was prodding a Protoss crystal inside a stasis tank.

"Ah Zerg!" Stentman cried as he pointed his pen at Melanie and quivered in terror.

"Relax Egon." Ariel said.

Stentman was shaking as Melanie placed a small sample on a slide for Ariel. The Doctor placed the slide into a scanner and brought up a previous scan of the Zerg virus.

"The virus will not infect what it already perceives as Zerg cells. So if this was placed into the brains of normal humans, the virus would cease to mutate their minds. They would still be infested but their mind would be unaffected by the virus." Melanie said as the previous sample completely ignored the new strain.

"Well then why not just spread it over the whole body? Then they would be immune." Ariel said.

"Yes. But if they aren't Zerg then the swarm will attack them. And if the Swarm realized that humans were immune to the virus they would find a way to infect them. It would be much worse." Melanie said.

Ariel sighed as Stentman began scanning the sample and analyzing it.

"Do you have any tests for the success of this solution?" She asked.

"Terra. She had it put into her brain and we put the Zerg Virus in her. No infection. We didn't alter the genetic makeup of her brain besides that introduction. It was unaffected." Melanie said.

"We'll run out own scans but I trust you enough to believe this could work. Is there a specific section of the brain that needs to be targeted?" Ariel asked.

"Yes I'll show you…" Melanie said.

Hyperion Hangar

U, Terra, Zed, Zira and Cressidia sat against the dropship they had flown in on while Swann and a group of his engineers stared at them.

"Hey Swann." Terra said annoyed.

Swann snapped out of his shocked daze and waved his arms at the engineers.

"Alright get the Hangar ready. We got more equipment comin in." Swann yelled and they scattered.

Cressidia scurried up to him and inspected the Siege Tank next to him.

"Cress stay here! We don't wanna provoke anyone." Terra called.

"But I want to see how they work. Plus this ones broken." Cressidia said.

"No it ain't." Swann said.

"Really? Loot at this." Cress said pointing to a set of missing bolts on the tread.

"I'll be damned. Hey who was workin over here?!" Swann yelled.

The engineer responsible ran over.

"What're you trying to pull? This ain't gonna fly kid. This girl knows more about your project than you do." Swann said angrily.

"Sorry sir but I… I didn't want to be near them." He said nudging his head towards the Mutants.

"They ain't gonna hurt you. Now finish the job." Swann said.

"I got it." Cressidia said as she swiped a wrench from the engineer's belt and quickly replaced the bolts.

"How the hell do you know what your doing?" Swann asked shocked by the efficiency of her work.

"I may have spent a lot of time studying the schematics of every machine the Dominion manufactures on the Info net. I can't heal like mom but I know machines pretty well." She said absentmindedly juggling the wrench.

Swann stared at her for a second before looking over at Terra and the others.

"I wanna see what she can do. I'll keep an eye on her." Swann said.

Terra nodded and Swann led Cressidia towards where the other engineers were performing maintenance on the Raider's vehicles and Equipment. He gave her a tool belt and she was off inspecting and repairing the equipment with extreme speed.

On the Ground...

Zach completed his flyover of the area and contacted Jim.

"We're good. I'm not seeing any more people down there." He said.

"Whats the status on that data core?" Jim asked.

"They just arrived at the structure. When it's destroyed I'll let you know." Zach said.

He waited until the building exploded and then started looping back towards the Raider's base. As he was approaching the base Jace contacted him.

"Uh Zach? We've got a problem." He said.

"What?" Zach asked.

"Zerg attack wave. Huge one entering a Nydus Worm. I'm guessing their heading for Jim. No sign of Kerrigan yet." Jace said.

"Jim. You've got a wave incoming. I'd suggest getting the hell out of there ASAP." Zach said.

"Copy that. What's the ETA on the others getting back here?" Jim asked.

"Three minutes or less. Ryan book it." Zach said to his friend.

"We're going as fast as we can." Ryan said in annoyance along with Olette and Hyl.

"Well hurry. Jace and I will cover you when you lift off Jim." Zach said.

"Only two of you? What the hell do you think you're gonna do?" Jim asked.

"We are quite a bit more dexterous than Mutalisks. Plus I've been dying to try out mid air fighting." Zach said as he hovered over Jim's base.

Jace joined him a moment later as Ryan and the others burst out of the ground. They boarded a ship and were on their way out as Jim's Command Center took off. As the rest of the base took off the Nydus worms burst out of the ground. The Swarm tried to grab onto the slow moving buildings but they were already out of reach. A swarm of Mutalisks started approaching the airborne structures and Zach and Jace flew headlong into them. Jace was tossing glaives the sliced the Zerg's wings to ribbons while Zach was using his Tentacle appendages to rip them apart in mid air. The Mutalisks were dealt with easily and only a few managed to escape from the airborne duo. Zach and Jace had both sustained injuries but they closed up rather quickly after the enemy glaives were removed. With the Raiders base secured and the enemies dealt with they took off towards the Hyperion.

Hyperion Hangar

Jim's command Center was landing as Zach and Jace arrived in the hangar. They dropped down next to Terra and the others and she whistled at their still healing wounds.

"Got a bit of action I see." She said.

"Yeah. Bit of fun really. Right Jace?" Zach asked.

"Yeah. Are we good here?" Jace asked as he sat down on a supply crate next to Zira.

"Yes. Though Cressidia is off helping the Terran engineer known as Swann." Zira said.

"Zach go check on your daughter." Jace said.

"She isn't my daughter. She's some experimen-" Zach stopped as Terra cracked her knuckles and gave him a hard look.

He spun on his heel and began walking around the hangar looking for Swann. He saw Jim running off towards the bridge and a bunch of engineers scurrying about but no Cress. He found her looking over Swann's shoulder at the Hangar control panel.

"We got schematics for every piece of our tech in here. Who're you?" Swann asked when he noticed Zach.

"Hey Swann. You don't recognize me?" Zach asked.

"Holy crap kid. Yeah you look a bit different. Get a new haircut?" Swann asked with a wry grin.

Cressidia was doing her best to look everywhere but at Zach. She knew his opinion of her very well and she wasn't about to give him further reason to dislike her.

"You okay kid?" He asked grudgingly.

"Yeah. Ellie's in the infirmary if you want to go check on her." She said quickly.

Zach nodded and Swann looked confused as Zach left.

"The hell was that? I've seen people getting teeth pulled more comfortable than that." Swann said.

"He's… my dad. Technically." She added quickly.

"Huh?" Swann asked looking confused.

"Ask Melanie about it. I'm going to go fix something." Cressidia said as she scurried off towards Jim's Command Center.

Swann scratched his head in confusion before noticing some workers dangerously close to some Widow Mines. He quickly hurried over to make sure they didn't activate.

On the Bridge

Matt confirmed that everyone was on board before commencing the ship's Jump. As they entered Warp Jim ran onto the bridge.

"How are we doing Matt?" Jim asked.

"We sustained a bit of damage but nothing major. No casualties on return to the ship. We're running green." Matt said.

"Those kids are quite the bunch huh? We woulda been screwed if they hadn't shown up." Jim said.

"Ah you would've thought of something. But they certainly came through. Ariel sent word that Ellie is stable and in recovery. But we might have a situation in the Hangar. The… mutants are not the most welcome guests." Matt said.

"I'll take care of it. I definitely don't want to make an enemy of these guys." Jim said as he headed towards the Hangar.

In the lab…

"It seems your predictions serve true. And this isn't a complicated genetic structure at all." Ariel said.

"Not at all. It's as basic as we could keep it so that it couldn't mutate itself. I hope this helps. Have your people gotten settled on their new world?" Melanie asked.

"Yes. Haven may be on the border with Protoss Space but it's ideal for our purposes." Ariel said.

"Be careful. The Protoss don't take kindly to Zerg. I know that much." Melanie said.

"I know. We've been screening our people for any sign of infection. With this we may be able to salvage the situation if an outbreak occurs." Ariel said.

"No problem." Melanie said as she jerked her head around towards the Hangar.

"What is it?" Ariel asked.

"Somethings happening."

In the Hangar…

Zed and Zira stood facing the Marines with their claws at the ready. Olette was bleeding on the floor and the other Mutants were shielding her.

"We'll kill you." The Zergling duo growled.

A group of two dozen marines were facing the mutants all with weapons at the ready. Zach and Jace were sitting on top of the dropship ready to pounce on anyone who launched an attack. The tension was palpable as Jim entered the Hangar followed closely by Melanie.

"What the Hell is going on here?!" Jim yelled.

"They tried to attack us sir!" One of the marines yelled.

Jim stood in between the two groups while Melanie scurried over to Olette and began working on her wounds.

"That thing tried to attack us." The marine yelled.

"The hell she did." Ty said as he brought his suits arm down on the marines suit causing him to collapse onto the ground.

The marines looked over to see Gorgon Company alongside Terra.

"Everybody calm down. I want the truth. Who did what?" Jim asked trying to calm the situation.

"Olette approached them to ask where Ellie was and they panicked and shot." Terra said calmly as Gorgon Company glared at the marines.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Jim asked.

"Yes. No major damage. A bit of rest and she'll be good as new." Melanie said as she stood up.

"Alright then I want you boys to report back here when she's awake. They are to be treated just like anybody else onboard this ship. Got it?" Jim announced to the entire Hangar.

There was a general murmur of agreement before the Marines left and the Mutants calmed down. Zed and Zira were still on high alert but they weren't about to shred anybody who happened to walk by. Olette was awake and the engineers were heading out a few hours after the incident. Though Melanie and Jim were discussing something in the corner with Swann.

"You gotta be kidding me Cowboy." Swann said.

"Nope. It's a good idea. And you already said one of them is good with machines. What's her name?" Jim asked.

"Cressidia. My daughter." Melanie said still slightly embarrassed saying it aloud.

"Still gotta hear the story there. But get it done Swann. You've got about two weeks until Matt's opening for our next op." Jim said.

Swann sighed before mumbling agreement.

"Aw come on big guy. Drinks are on me tonight." Jim said.

"Heh. Alright Cowboy. Better get your wallet ready." Swann laughed as he left.

"So what's up with you guys? Thought you didn't want the dominion knowing about you." Jim said.

"It's different if we're with you. They don't know where to find us. Or that there are more of us. Without that Mengsk couldn't launch a strike even if he wanted to." Melanie said.

"And the kid?" Jim asked.

"An experiment. God I feel bad for saying that. Alestra had me see if I could generate and mutate a Larvae. Long story short I can. And I made her using my own genes and Zach's." Melanie said.

"Well you've certainly been busy since last time I saw you. Sounds like you need a drink to." Jim said.

"You really want a drunk Zerg girl on your ship?" Mel asked with a smile.

"Hey the more you guys get out there the quicker they are to take a liking to you. Come on." Jim said.

Melanie walked with him to the Cantina where there was a very audible silence when they walked in. Jim nodded to Tychus and the big man cleared his throat.

"Hey stop with the starin. Or do ya want the commander to get mad?" Tychus asked.

The dull roar of the cantina slowly returned and soon Melanie was seeing double.

"I think you've had enough." Jim said.

"Whaddya mean Jimmy?" She said as she swayed back and forth trying to focus on him.

She started hiccuping as Jim lead her back to the hangar where the others were choking down on some properly prepared food with Gorgon Company. When they arrived Melanie half walked half fell onto Cressidia.

"You're a good girl. Yknow that right? Mel asked her as she hugged the smaller girl.

"Uhhhhhh…" Cressidia asked looking at Jim.

"Just go with it. I'll check in tomorrow." Jim said as he left the hangar with a chuckle.

"Mel are you okay?" Zach asked.

"I only had a few." Melanie said as Cress tried to help her sit up straight.

"A few to many maybe. She'll have a hell of a hangover in the morning." David said.

"So you were telling us about the old days. What was it like back then?" Ryan asked.

"Well I was with Jim way back at Backwater station. That's where everything began. We got stuck in a holdout on Mar Sara and Mengsk showed up when the confederacy left us to die. Back then Arcturus seemed like a great guy. Genuinely cared about people like us. Great leader. Then we realized how wrong we were. When he used that damn Psi emitter on Tarsonis. When we left Kerrigan. Worst mistake of our lives. Course it led us to Tassadar and the Protoss. Our old buddy Fenix. Good times man. We fought the Swarm and won. We killed the Overmind on Auir and we thought that would be the end of it. Then Kerrigan came back. Jim took it pretty hard." David said remembering the old times.

"Wait. Jim had a thing for Kerrigan? Better watch out Ryan you might have some competition." Cressidia said with a impish grin as Melanie snored on her shoulder.

Ryan, who had been drinking at the time, covered his mouth as he started laughing. It wasn't enough and he fell backwards flailing his legs and arms as he laughed hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Terra asked.

"I was just imagining Jim trying to hit on Ellie. Oh that would be hilarious." He said.

"And creepy." Jenny said.

"Said the girl with a crush on her." Fiona said with a grin.

Jenny's face went red and she coughed trying to catch her breath. Ryan stared at Jenny and shrugged.

"What not worried about me? Think I'm not competition?" Jenny asked angry and embarrassed and also slightly drunk.

"Nah. I just don't think Ellie swings that way. If anyone knows it would be Mel." Ryan said as they all looked to Melanie who was out for the night.

"Speaking of Melanie, I've been meaning to ask. Why do some of you have the extra eyes?" Sarah asked looking at Zach.

"Don't ask me. Mutation is Mel's thing. She's the only one here who knows." Zach said.

"I know." Cressidia said.

"No you don't." Zach said.

Cressidia looked down at the ground sadly before Terra thumped Zach's head.

"Fine go on." Zach said.

"Well, Mom has them because of the Broodmother strains she possesses. The broodmothers have extra eyes so they can see more of what is going on around them. He has them because Mutalisks rely on their eyes to avoid incoming attacks. If one eye is damaged they have others to rely upon." She explained.

Zach grumbled agreement while the others looked at Cress, impressed with her knowledge. They sat there another few hours talking before going to sleep. The mutants took turns staying on watch while the others slept.

**So kinda kept dragging on I know but I don't want to post Crappy chapters, I want them all to be as good as I can make them so to that end I usually hold off on posting chapters. Which is what happened here. Except here it mixed with a month and a half of writers block and constant edits. So I'm not making any promises for new chapters because whenever I do I miss them and when I don't chapters tend to go up faster. But General Idea is to wrap up WoL before September. After that we'll have an interim leading up to HoTs. Also the summary chapter will follow this one with character info as well. See ya later guys.**


	18. Summary for Chapters 1-17

Liberation notes

Anything that is unfamiliar in this chapter will appear during the next chapter. Also If you did not cath the chapter that was released last weekend, Go back and read it before this.

Mutants

Eleanor Vissal- Human Zerg Hybrid

Melanie- Walking Hive, Tactical commander, Medic

Zach- Multiple Air species sequences, one of the two dominant flyer mutants

Ryan- Hydralisk/Roach Hybrid, tunneler

Alestra- Former Broodmother, Leader of the Mutant Brood

U- Ultralisk, Heavy fighter, Male, "Juggernaut"

Cressidia "Fixer" - Daughter of Melanie, cannot mutate cells

Zed- Zergling mutant, Male, close range Specialist, one of the "Zergling Twins"

Zira- Zergling mutant, Female, close Range Specialist, one of the "Zergling Twins"

Hyl- Hydralisk Mutant, Female, can tunnel underground

Olette- Roach Mutant, Female, Lead tunneler

Jace- Mutant Mutalisk, Male, Secondary Flyer commander

Raiders

Ty- 32, Marauder, Second in command "The Big Guy"

Syra- 27, Marauder/Firebat hybrid, ripped throat, electronic Voicebox "Little Devil"

Terra- 27, Marauder, Syra's Twin, mutant, uses the Titan Suit

Sarah- 22, Agrian Medic, skilled in field treatment

Alicia- 29, Medic, crippled after Deadman's port, inactive

Fiona- 19, Medic, Mar Saran Rebel, longer term treatment

David- 48, Siege Tank Operator, One of the Original Raiders,

Scott- 45, Marine, blunt and rough

Jenny- 20, Reaper, , Respectful, very formal

Summary

Our main Character, Ellie, is abducted from Menihoff and mutated as part of a plan formed by The Queen of Blades. She is rescued before the process is completed by the Outlaw Jim Raynor and is left as a half Zerg, Half Human. She joins Raynor's forces and assists them on the colony world of Agria by using her immense Psionic Abilities to destroy a Brutalisk.

During the Raiders next mission she recieves Psionic training from the Rogue Spectre, Gabriel Tosh. With his training she gains a moderate amount of skill with her abilities. Tosh is shown the massive pool of energy she possess when she overtaxed her powers and to discharge the build up, is forced to launch a small mountain of rock into orbit.

On the planet Zessia Ellie used her connection to the Zerg Hive Mind to give an entire Brood Sentience. The Zerg agree to fight the Swarm.

Arriving at her home planet, Ellie and the Raiders find it nearly overrun by a Zerg Infestation. Ellie rescues her friends, Melanie, Zachary, Ryan and Beth, but is to late to save her parents who have already been infested. The Raiders attempt to evacuate the planet but are ground by Zerg Bile Launchers and a hold out ensues. In the fighting Beth is killed but the others survive and make it off planet, though Melanie is seriously injured.

Next the Raiders take a job for Tosh. On a mission to Collect Terrazine, Ellie confronts a Protoss Archon and absorbs raw Terrazine. She defeats the Archon but one of her Squad is badly injured by the creature. They take her to Zessia to be healed by the Broodmother Alestra.

While on Zessia they find the Zerg have been advancing themselves and have a basic society and that they have mutated a large group of Zerg into humanoid forms. Upon seeing this, Melanie, Zachary and Ryan volunteer to be mutated in the same manner as Ellie. Ellie returns to the Hyperion and joins Jim on a mission to retrieve a Xel'naga Artifact on the planet Xil.

On Xil they use a Draken Laser Drill to destroy the Protoss guarding the artifact and once inside the temple Ellie is possessed by a strange force. Tosh blocks the force but the experience leaves the teen shaken. Tosh takes Ellie to receive Spectre Training which causes her body to fully develop and her powers to be far more precise though more dangerous for her as well.

Next the Raiders attempt to get a Confederate Adjutant that they recovered while Ellie was on Zessia decrypted by Colonel Orlan. The Colonel attempts to betray them but through the combined forces of Mira Horner and the Raiders he is defeated. During the battle one of Ellie's medics, Alicia, is crippled, losing her legs. Ellie overtaxes her powers and causes her brain to begin bleeding.

The Raiders then head to New Folsom and proceed to break out hundreds of inmates, Spectres and Political Prisoners.

As they return to the Hyperion they receive a distress call from the Moebius foundation, The Queen of Blades is attacking their headquarters. The Raiders rush to their aid and assist in the evacuation. On a mission to destroy the data cores holding the locations of the three remaining Xel'Naga artifacts, Ellie engages Kerrigan one on One. Ellie is utterly defeated with both an attack on her mind and losing her arms. At that moment Melanie, Zachary and Ryan arrive alongside other Mutants. They rescue Ellie and assist the Raiders.

"And that is where our Story is now. Now where shall it go?" Zeratul asked as he brushed his hand over the temple carvings.


	19. Ragnarok

**Ragnarok**

Cressidia finished replacing the Medicac's last few engine pieces and hopped off of the aircraft. She signaled to the pilot who started up the thrusters and confirmed that it was working. She smiled as she walked up to Swann who was overseeing the construction of a special series of equipment.

"Those repairs are done." She said.

"Already? You've got a knack for machines, princess." Swann said using his nickname for her.

"Just repairing them. How's this going?" She asked looking at the equipment.

"Almost done. Should be ready before the big mission. I heard that you guys got your own plan." He said.

"Yeah. Gorgon Company and us. Moms working on it. Should be fun." Cress said with a sigh.

"You good for combat? I've never seen you use anything but a torch." Swann said.

"I won't be fighting. I'll be helping the guys on the ground with keeping our base in one piece." Cress said.

"Good. You can do a lot more good there." Swann said.

"Thanks. I just hope it goes okay." Cress said.

"With these you guys will leave the dominion's guys in the dust." Swann said staring at his handiwork.

**Two days later, one jump from Valhalla **

The Mutants stood before Swann and the others outfitted in their new gear.

U towered over the others in a massive Firebat suit. It had been specially fitted and armored for him and they had outfitted his suit with Hellion flamethrower, turning him into a walking shield.

Terra had a modified Marauder suit. The gauntlets had been reinforced to support melee combat and her suit had had to be resized to accommodate her new size, a fact she refused to acknowledge.

The Zergling Twins were wearing modified Spectre suits that accommodated their spiked backs. Zira was wielding a Sniper Rifle while Zed held a heavy shotgun. Both of them had tactical visors rather than helmets.

Olette, Hyl and Ryan were outfitted with skin tight suits that let them burrow without worrying about their suits. Ryan carried a canister launcher with six extra shots while Hyl carried a standard Assault Rifle. Olette had two dozen Spider mines on her person.

Jace and Zach were both wearing lightly armored suits that padded their chests but opened up in the back for their wings. Zach was carrying a set of pistols while Jace merely had a thick knife strapped to his waist.

Melanie was wearing a stripped down Medic suit with a laser scalpel on both of her secondary hands.

They stood inspecting their new equipment with a dozen or so Engineer's marveling at their handiwork. Cressidia was doing some last minute checks on everyone's equipment. When she was satisfied that they were in pristine condition she nodded and went to Join the Raider's landing force.

Melanie and the others boarded Ellie's dropship while Gorgon Company followed them in one of Jim's. They landed near the rear of the facility and Melanie brought up a map of the area.

"We have Intel pointing to a small fleet of Dominion Battlecruisers here. They are two new Prototypes. One is of similar design to the Odin that Jim and Tychus are stealing. It's named the Loki, a Battlecruiser the size and twice the firepower of the Hyperion. The others are Gorgon Battlecruisers. Supremely massive ships designed to bombard enemy ground forces and decimating the skies. We are planning on stealing them for our own." Mel said.

"That's a tall order for only a few of us." Ty said.

"We've got these." Mel said holding up five large data storage chips.

"What are they?"

"Auto pilot sequences and fail safe disables. They will make the ship's leave the atmosphere and strip them of any dominion overrides but after that they need a full crew." Melanie said.

"So we just gotta get these to the bridge?" David asked.

"Yep, find an open data port and these babies will get us out of there. And we have teams set up already, provided they agree with you." Melanie said gesturing to the Terrans.

"Let's hear it." Ty said.

"I, Scott, Jenny, Olette and Ty will commandeer the Loki." Melanie said.

"Works for me." Ty said.

Scott and Jenny nodded.

"Terra, Syra, Hyl and I will take one Gorgon." Ryan said.

The twins nodded in agreement.

"David will take the others and take the remaining Cruiser. While Zach and Jace assault the final two on their own." Melanie said.

"You think they can do that?" David asked.

"We can. If we punch through the bridge we can commandeer them and seal the bridge off." Zach said.

"Just don't die kid." Scott said checking his guns clip.

"Will do. Ready Jace?" Zach asked as he and Jace grabbed a control chip.

Jace grinned as they took off. The others formed their groups and split up towards their targets.

Melanie's group arrived at the Loki's dry dock with little interference and they made their way into the hangar with ease. Ty and Scott realized Melanie, while being their medic, was just as deadly, if not more so, than either of them. She used the spider like legs extending from her back to skewer the enemy infantry. They cleared the hangar of the enemies while only sustaining a very small amount of damage to themselves. As they made their way through the the ships corridors any Terrans they came across fled at the sight of them. When they reached the bridge they could see Jace and Zach had already lifted off in their Cruisers and Melanie followed closely after. As the ships rose higher she could see the remaining two lift off from the ground. Satisfied the plan had gone well she began broadcasting on the Loki's intercom.

"Soldiers and Scientists of the dominion. We are not going to execute you or bring you harm unless you give us reason to. Though we cannot allow you to tell your Emperor of this attack so you will remain our prisoners until such time as we deem you to not be a liability. And just please give me the benefit of the doubt when I tell you that I and those accompanying me will not harm you unless you attack first." Melanie said.

She started picking up movement on the ships security systems moments later. Many of the remaining Terrans, mostly the non combatants, were migrating towards the ships bar. Leaving Olette in charge, Melanie took Jenny with her to meet them.

When they arrived more than one of the Terrans screamed. Melanie rolled her eyes, an action that had a hypnotic effect on many of those watching, and took a seat at the bar. As she sat down she coiled the legs stemming from her back around her chest. Jenny hopped behind the bar and tossed her a bottle of Agrian Vodka. Mel spun the bottle in her hand and looked around.

"So, no ones going to attack me right?" She asked.

Most shook their heads while others backed away, but remained in the room. Mel opened the bottle and took a swig as Jenny leaned on the bar. After a few minutes one of the Terrans approached her.

"What is it you want from us?" He asked.

"What I want is a means of mass transport, and a way to defend ourselves. When Emperor Mengsk learns of our existence then I will allow all of you to leave completely unharmed." Melanie said calmly.

"What about our families? My children…" One of them asked.

"Where are they?" Melanie asked.

"Korhal. Augustgrad." He said.

"I can arrange something. As I understand it, the Raiders aided the Agrian Colonists. They've set up a new colony and are accepting all." Melanie said tossing the bottle of Vodka to him.

"I would appreciate it." He said eyeing the bottle with a bit of suspicion before taking a drink.

"Are there any others who have family that need to be relocated?" Melanie asked.

A few raised their hands and she made a mental list, many were on Korhal which made her idea all the more plausible.

After hearing them out she made her way back to the bridge. The Hyperion was on the comm.

"How'd it go?" Melanie asked.

"Tychus is clearing out the last dominion base now. It looks like everything went good on your end." Matt said.

"Yeah. Could you send out the operator crews? I want to be able to get out of here at a moments notice if we need to." Melanie said.

"They're already en route. What did you do w-" Matt doubled over gripping his head.

The Hyperion's lights began flickering and the screen distorted.

"Matt?!" Melanie cried.

He groaned but otherwise didn't respond. A few seconds later she found out why. A wave of Psionic energy passed through the ship, boring into the minds of every living person in orbit around Valhalla.

**Ellie's Mind**

Ellie drifted through a void. It wasn't like a normal dream, it was… hostile. It wasn't hers. She could feel a presence, it was massive and terrifying. As she tried to move herself and reach out to the presence it reacted. All she saw was red before a unimaginable amount of pain shot through her mind. As she screamed out a voice rippled past the pain, laughing.

'The child returns'

She lashed out with her own mind and the pain lessened so that she could focus.

"What are you?! Who are you?!" She cried through a haze of pain.

'Beyond you're understanding'

She found herself facing a massive red face in the darkness.

"You! That thing from the temple!" Ellie yelled.

'Yes, a fortunate encounter'

"Tosh sent you away. I can to!" Ellie growled.

'He can do no such thing. He can stop me no more than you.'

Ellie refused to listen, green energy built up in her hand and she directed it all at the face. The presence focused its attack and her mind burned. She continued her attack and after a moment of agony the pain vanished.

'You cannot resist forever'

It faded away and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as the pain within her mind faded as well. She sank into a peaceful sleep and rested.

Loki's Bridge

The Psionic wave vanished after a moment but left everyone shaken. Melanie looked at the comm screen. Matt and the other Raiders were slowly regaining their senses looking around she saw that everyone had felt the wave, some worse than others. Olette was curled up on the ground crying and gripping her head. The Terrans were less affected but they seemed rather disturbed.

"That wasn't Ellie." Mel said.

"What was it?"

"Whatever it was it could do that. That's enough for me to want to never run into it again." Melanie said.

She made sure the other Battlecruisers were undamaged and then boarded the shuttle that had brought the pilots over and flew back to the Hyperion. She hurried down to the med bay where Ellie was lying on her bed. Her arms had fully grown back, now just regrowing the Chitin on her hands. She had her teeth gritted and she was rigid as a board. Mel reached her mind out to Ellie's and when she connected a bolt of pain shot through her mind. Mel backed away and closed off her mind as red energy started flowing off of Ellie.

Ellie sat up and gritted her teeth as she growled a threat.

"You are never going to control me. I'll kill you before that happens." She hissed out.

The red energy dissipated and Ellie slumped over in exhaustion. Mel caught her before she could collapse and Ellie looked up.

"Thanks Mel." She said.

"What was that?" Mel asked in concern.

"Something. Tosh might know. All I know is that it wants to control me." She said rubbing her head.

That was when Ellie noticed her hands, which were nearly human. She stared at them in amazement.

"I thought they were gone?" She asked.

"We grew them back. It took awhile." Mel said helping Ellie to her feet.

"Wait, how long was I out?" She asked.

"About a month." Melanie said.

"That long? It only felt like a few hours… have I missed anything?" She asked.

"Here." Mel said sharing memories with Ellie.

"That is very convenient." Ellie said.

"It really is. Are you okay standing on your own?" Mel asked.

"Yeah. I don't feel any weaker than before. In fact I feel a bit stronger." Ellie said stretching.

"That would be the Brutalisk strains. You aren't as strong as U but you should be stronger than most of the others." Mel said as they left the med bay.

As they made their way towards the bridge they started hearing alarms. Ellie looked around in concern as Matt issued a ship wide alert.

"All hands prepare for Immediate Warp to Haven. Leaving in five." He said.

Ellie and Mel ran to the bridge, when they arrived they found Dr. Hanson pacing while Matt checked the ship Personnel.

"What's wrong?! Are we under attack?!" Ellie asked.

"No, we received a scattered transmission from Haven. A Protoss fleet is blockading the Planet, we think another outbreak may have occurred." Ariel said with concern.

"Are they attacking?" Melanie asked.

"Not as far as we can tell. The transmission wasn't very clear though."

"Maybe Jim can talk them down, as long as they aren't those crazy Tal'Darim." Ellie said.

"Maybe. I've informed the other Battlecruisers. We're ready for warp. On my mark. 3. 2. 1. Mark." Matt said as the ship shot into warp.

1 hour later, In orbit above Haven

The Hyperion emerged from Warp to see a fleet of Protoss ships hovering above the planet. When they were in range Jim opened a channel with them.

"This is Executor Selendis of the Dae'laam Protoss. What business do you have here?" A female Protoss asked.

"This is James Raynor. You are attacking an independent Colony, Executor." Jim said.

"There is an infestation here Friend Raynor, we have an obligat- what is that creature doing aboard your ship?!" The Protoss asked in rage.

Ellie stepped forward and introduced herself. Jim stood next to her.

"She is my friend, Executor. She fights against Kerrigan and the Swarm just as we do." Jim said.

"Zerg do not help other species friend Raynor." The Executor said.

"But I'm not Zerg. I'm not Terran either, I'm something else. And I have friends down there that I won't allow you to hurt." Ellie said putting steel into her own words.

The Executor was silent for a moment before speaking.

"The infestation has taken them, they are Zerg now. They must be purged" The Executor said simply.

"Not exactly, we gave the Colony a means of preserving their minds. If we were to free them from the hive mind… they would be themselves again." Melanie said.

"They will be Purged." Selendis said simply.

Ellie cracked one of her teeth in annoyance.

"I'll fight you for this world. One on one." She said.

Everyone, including the Executor stared at her.

"Jim's told me that the Protoss honor their promises, no? So I will duel you by myself to decide the fate of this planet." Ellie said.

"Very well. But it will be one sided, no matter how tough your body is you cannot resist my blade." Selendis said igniting her Psi Blade.

"Then make it fair, I can use one of your Psi Blades. A fair one on one battle." Ellie said.

The Executor was silent before nodding. When the transmission ended everyone began questioning her.

"Are you insane?!"

"How are you gonna fight a Protoss executor?!"

She listened to them for a moment before simply walking off the bridge. Jim and Mel followed her.

"This is crazy. I've seen Executors in action. She is going to kill you Ellie." Jim said.

"No she won't. One on one, I stand a chance. If I can win then I can save hundreds of lives. Ours and theirs." She said.

"Yeah but if you die-"

"What good do I do you? I can't hold my own against Kerrigan. I can't even protect my mind from that thing." Ellie said quietly.

"What?" They both asked, looking at each other concerned.

"That… thing from the Xel'Naga temple. It was in my head while I was out. I couldn't do anything against it." Ellie said her fist shaking in fury.

"Ellie, this won't chang-" Mel started.

"I NEED THIS!" Ellie screamed and the entire ship shuddered and groaned.

They stared at her, glowing eyes full of rage and fear. Jim turned and left without a word. Mel placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. They boarded a shuttle and headed down to where the Executor waited.

When they arrived on the ground they found a few of the Colonists, Dr. Hanson and Zach waiting.

"You better wrap this up quick. Those infested aren't gonna leave us alone for long." He said.

"Understood. I believe you have something for me Executor." Ellie said.

Selendis tossed her a Psi Blade Gauntlet and Ellie slipped it onto her arm. It was a bit loose and she had to press the metallic frame together slightly to get it to stay. She faced the Executor, who was standing I front of a line of Protoss troops.

She and Ellie both ignited their Psi Blades and started slowly approaching the other. Ellie was thankful that she hadn't deteriorated during her recovery as she knew she would need every bit of her strength to stand a chance. The Executor made the first move, lunging at her, aiming directly for Ellie's heart. Ellie brought up her own blade and grazed Seldndis' arm. The Executor backed up and her eyes narrowed. The Psionic Amp on her back activated as she held out her hand. Ellie threw out her own energy and green lightning shot from her hand. The attack caught Selendis off guard and lifted her from the ground. She rolled to a stop and smoke curled off her skin. Ellie was breathing hard from the effort and her hand was smoking.

"You are no ordinary creature. What are you?" Selendis asked as she rose to her feet.

Ellie could feel the Protoss' mind pressing against her own. She sent out her most recent memories, her defeat at Kerrigan's hands, her families deaths, her own infestation. The Executor didn't react for a moment before staring at Ellie.

"I will put you out of your misery." She said charging at Ellie.

Ellie tried to deflect her blade but the Executor punched her in the gut and brought her blade up to Decapitate Ellie but the Mutant Teen dodged and merely lost a section of her hair. Ellie saw an opening and took it. She sank her teeth into Selendis' arm. Selendis let out a cry and brought her fist down on Ellie's neck. Ellie fell to the ground while Selendis gripped her arm.

Ellie got to her feet and stared at the Executor still dazed from the blow to her neck. As Selendis charged Ellie clumsily dodged and cut a piece of Selendis' armor. The metal fell to the ground but the Protoss countered by swinging towards Ellie's head. The psi blade cut through her skin with ease and she grabbed the Executor's arm to stop it from killing her. As she held Selendis' arm the Psi blade had carved a burning line on her face. It had cut the top of her ear and a long line running down her cheek ended just below her lips. She squeezed her razor sharp fingers and jerked the Executor's arm, snapping it. The Protoss leader screamed and Ellie held her Psi blade against Selendis' throat.

"You can either admit defeat or die. Which is it?" Ellie asked.

The Executor was silent for a moment before lowering her head.

"I admit defeat. The Planet and its inhabitants are under your charge. But tell me how you intend to defeat these creatures? What have you accomplished?!" Selendis asked cradling her broken arm.

"I'm not going to defeat them. Mel I need you." Ellie said.

Melanie walked over and Ellie sat on the ground scratching at the gouge on her face.

"I need you to link the infested. I can't connect them. I can only break their connection." Ellie said.

Melanie took a deep breath and was very still for a moment before opening her eyes. They had shifted from the neon green that Ellie had to a bright vibrant yellow.

"I-it's done. Hurry. I can feel Kerrigan." Mel said.

Ellie placed her hand against her friends forehead and focused. She could feel Kerrigan struggling to gain control of the infested and before the Queen of blades had a chance she severed their connection. Ellie opened her eyes to see a dumbstruck Selendis surrounded by dozens of infested. The Protoss were clearly uncomfortable but were refraining from attacking. Selendis stared at Ellie.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I cut them off from the Hive Mind. Without it controlling them they have their minds back." Ellie said as Mel helped her up.

"You are the strangest creature I have ever encountered. You embrace this… plague set upon you. Yet you feel no revulsion from it?" Selendis asked.

"Well I mean… I miss having actual hair, and you know skin. But I've accepted what I am for the most part. But I will stop Kerrigan. She's taken to much to be allowed to live. Billions of lives, my family, my humanity and most recently my arms. I'm going to pay her back myself." Ellie said.

"I believe you just might. You are a capable warrior. As a token of my respect keep that Psi Blade." Selendis said.

Ellie stared at the Protoss as they prepared for warp. As they started shimmering, Ellie swore that Selendis gave the Protoss equivalent of a smile. After they were gone Ellie opened her mind to all the Infested.

"I know you are all going to be scared and Confused but just know that you are safe. We are going to be setting up an area where you can group up and we can discuss the future. These are the coordinates…" Ellie said giving out a series of numbers.

When she was satisfied the message had been heard she turned to Zach.

"You know what to do. See you in a few hours." Ellie said.

He nodded and took off into the sky. Ellie and Mel made their way to the rendezvous and much to their surprise they found Dr. Hanson.

"They need someone they all know." She said.

They nodded and while they waited for the transports to arrive, Melanie attempted to heal Ellie's face.

"Can you please go one mission without injuring yourself?" Mel asked.

"Yeah because I like getting hurt." Ellie said as Mel succeeded in closing the wound with the Zerg equivalent of Stitches.

A very gooey, cold set of stitches. When most of the infested had arrived Melanie welcomed them and tried to keep them as calm as possible. She told them what had happened, both to the colonists and the girls. She told them what they planned to do and was met with silence. After a few moments a few of them started cheering at the idea. Then more joined in. Soon the whole crowd was cheering. And that was when Zach and the others returned. As the Battle cruisers re entered orbit and lowered themselves to the ground everyone on Haven watched. When the Ships had landed a single voice called out to everyone.

'We have a home.' Alestra said.

**So I'm so sorry for the long update between chapters. I got two jobs, working seventy+ hours a week leaves little time to write. I won't promise any timeframe on the next chapter because I never seem to make them but know that I am working on it. Also sorry if this chapter seems rushed I promise that the next one will be better.**


	20. Safe Haven

**Safe Haven**

**I wasn't even planning to write this chapter but it sort of took on its own form. Anyway we will be getting back to the missions next chapter for now meet some characters.**

Ellie sat on the edge of the pit that Olette and a dozen others were slowly carving into the ground behind her the Haven colonists were mingling with the Mutant Brood and cautiously interacting with them. The Hyperion and the ships that they had stolen were in orbit, watching for any Protoss or Dominion war ships.

All while Ellie was grounded on Mel's orders. Mel had ordered everyone to keep her from doing anything until she deemed that Ellie's wounds had healed.

So she sat on the edge of the pit. She scratched at her face, there hadn't been any permanent damage but she had a gash missing from the chitin on her head and a long white scar was visible within the crack. It was a small price to pay for a safe planet. The Dominion wouldn't venture this close to Protoss space and they didn't even know that the planet had been colonized. Alestra and Dr. Hanson were attempting to unify the two groups and get them to cooperate. So far they had managed to get a surprising amount of acceptance, due to the infested being family members and close friends. The mutant Zerg were met with a degree of caution while the Zerg that had remained unchanged were avoided at all costs by the Terrans. Melanie was an excellent ambassador, she had been and had still retained much of her humanity and the Mutant Brood had accepted her as a leader.

"Stop moping. I'm just making sure you don't get yourself killed." Melanie said as she sat down next to Ellie.

"Yeah yeah. How goes the diplomacy?" Ellie asked.

"As well as I had expected. People are still wary of us. It'll just take time." She said.

"Well I'm headed out with Jim and the Raiders. They are headed to Korhal soon. I have a few choice words for the Emperor." Ellie said as she angrily clenched her fist.

"I have a better idea." Melanie said.

"Oh really?" Ellie asked.

Melanie explained her plan and Ellie sat nodding.

"That is a good idea. Think she can do it?" Ellie asked.

"She's already on it. She's using that adjutant from Tarsonis to help upload the virus." Melanie said. "So when Jim and his guys launch their attack our plan has its base."

"Nice. So I assume we won't be alongside Jim and the Raiders on Korhal?" Ellie asked.

"No I will be meeting with someone while you are here recovering." Melanie said turning her glowing yellow eyes on Ellie, daring her to argue.

"Fine but I won't be sitting on my ass for the next two weeks. I need to do something!" Ellie yelled.

"I thought about that to. What do you think of this?" Melanie asked sharing her thoughts briefly.

Ellie thought about it for a moment.

"Terrible plan. Zero out of ten. Nope not gonna happen." Ellie said.

"Why?" Mel asked narrowing her eyes.

Ellie opened her mouth to retort but she couldn't think of a legitimate reason besides not wanting to. Seeing her hesitation, Mel smiled.

"I'll find a few for you." She said as she stood up and walked towards the Settlement.

Ellie lay on the ground staring at the sky.

"This is going to end terribly." She said to herself.

Two weeks later, Augustgrad, Jack's Pub

Mel downed a fifth pint and tapped her foot nervously. Now that she was here she was much more aware of how badly this plan could go. She had disguised herself so that no one could tell what she was, and it was so uncomfortable being condensed into a human sized body. As the door opened she looked over and saw her guest arrive. She waved them over and smiled as they sat down.

"Hello." Mel said.

"Hello, you are the one who called right?" Kate Lockwell asked.

"Yes. What would you say if I told you I could get you one of the biggest stories you'll ever see?" Mel asked.

Meanwhile, Haven, Temporary Training site

Ellie stood in front of the teenagers and looked them over while they gave her blank stares. Two humans and three infested. She took a deep breath as she spoke.

"All right who's wondering why they are here?" She asked.

All five raised a hand.

"Well my friend thinks that you all show a larger than average Psionic potential. She wants me to see what you can do." Ellie said.

"Really? You want to make us into soldiers?" One of the boys said.

"I didn't say that." Ellie said.

"But your thinking it." Another said.

"I think it's a waste of time. But she said it was either this or sit around doing nothing." Ellie said.

"Well that's encouraging."

"Listen do you little assholes wanna learn how to do cool stuff with your mind or just sit here and give me shit." Ellie said as her eyes flared brightly.

They stopped chuckling to themselves and watched her intently.

"I need to know how strong your abilities are. You first." She said pointing at one of the boys that had given her trouble.

"Me? Uh…" He said looking around nervously.

"You can't can you? Do any of you know how to use Psionics?" She asked.

One of the infested raised his hand. He looked human for the most part but his right arm and Torso had been infested, giving him a chest of rough spiked chitin and a clawed hand.

"Then show me what you've got." Ellie said leaning against a tree.

He held out his hand towards a rock and focused on it. After a moment the rock shot into his hand. Ellie raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You have nice control. A little slow though." She said.

He smiled and tossed the rock back onto the ground.

"Alright any of you wanna try it?" Ellie asked.

The other four shrugged and Ellie used her own Telekinetic abilities to throw a rock to each of them. The four of them spent the next eight hours trying to move the rocks any substantial distance, meeting with mixed results. One of them failed to get any amount of movement. The one who had managed to use his abilities spent the day running drills reminiscent of Ellie's time on Redstone with Tosh. They only got a break when the Raiders Broadcast started playing. As she heard it Ellie stormed off and found a boulder. Holding out her hand she clenched her fingers shut and the rock cracked and groaned. As she strained her mind she felt something snap inside her, whatever it was crushed the Boulder, spraying razor sharp fragments in every direction. As she panted from the strain she plucked rock shards out of her arms and legs. She was still picking them out when Ryan found her, leaning against a tree getting a particularly stubborn shard out of her foot.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"Ones good, ones abysmal the other three are maybe salvageable." Ellie said.

"That bad?" Ryan asked.

"It's just… I'm barely older than they are. It's maybe a years difference. And I'm supposed to be training them?" Ellie said.

"You also managed to free an entire colony's worth of people, have more power than almost every other being in the sector. And to top it off you were trained by a guy who I know as some kind of Super Soldier. Even if you are young, you've got experience." Ryan said sitting down next to her.

"I have a months training. And I can't use my power very well. Back at Deadman's port I nearly killed myself using it." Ellie said.

"Yeah and you had your arms ripped off a month and a half ago. Then you dueled a Protoss Executor after waking up from a Coma. You can do this."

Ellie rested her head on his shoulder and was soon soundly sleeping while he watched the clouds roll by. A rustle in the trees caused Ryan to look up. He found Zach sitting on a branch above them wearing a huge grin on his face. His glowing blue eyes were on locked on the two of them.

"What?" Zach asked.

"Oh just thinking how if Mel were here she'd be snapping pictures." He said.

"Oh please. She'd be to enthralled by how cute Ellie looks." Ryan said.

"Well just so you know, Jim and the raiders found something on Korhal. Some secret Facility. Think we should check it out?" Zach asked.

"Probably. She probably will want to." Ryan said.

"Yeah. She's talking in her sleep." Ryan said as she started shaking.

"No… no… NO!" She yelled as she woke up and red light flashed in her eyes.

Zach and Ryan jumped as she startled them. She looked around frantically looking for something.

"What is it?" Zach asked.

"N-nothing. Just a nightmare." She said.

"Ellie come on, you can tell u-" Zach stopped as Ellie sent him flying with a Psionic blast.

"Yeah she doesn't really talk about her feelings, man. She's not telling you anything." Ryan said as Zach struggled to gently land.

"Yeah yeah. Just tell her what's up." Zach said as he took a running take off.

Ryan sighed as he ran after Ellie.

He caught up with her in just a few minutes. She was gripping her head and was cursing at herself.

"Get out. Whatever you are get out!" She screamed.b

Ryan reached out with his mind and reeled back from the maelstrom of thoughts racing through her head.

"Ellie!" He yelled and she turned to face him with a look of desperation.

Red energy arced off of her skin, clashing with her natural green energy.

"Stay away from him. This is my mind." Ellie growled through gritted teeth.

She raked her hands along the sides of her head. As blood trickled out she fell to her knees and her energy arced across her body, working its way up from her feet all the way to her head. As the energy danced across her form a purple mist began seeping out of her body. It was hardly noticeable at first but once Ryan saw it he could see it floating out of the open wounds on her face.

After the Energy had finished its work Ellie collapsed on the ground, steam curling off sections off her body as she lay motionless. Ryan approached her cautiously and turned her over before gently listening for her heartbeat. It was faint but definitely there. He scooped her up in his arms and began walking back towards the settlement.

Halfway back he was startled when she put a hand on his face.

"Hey. Feel better?" He asked.

"Just a bit. Whatever that thing was it left with that Terrazine. My mind feels clear. Really clear." She said as Ryan gently helped her onto her feet.

"And what do you think miss Clear head?" He asked.

She turned and laid a kiss on his lips, surprising him. He almost pulled away but after a moment of hesitation leaned into it. As they broke away Ellie gave him a devilish smile.

"Let's take a… detour." She said.

Two hours later…

Zach sat on top of the Colony's command station while Alestra milled about below.

"But that massive amount of Psionic Energy-" She said as she paced.

"It's fine. I've been… connected to them since it happened. They'll be glad I was blocking the rest of you from feeling their minds." Zach said giving her a grin.

"I've lived with you for nearly a month, felt your mind stripped bare and I still miss your point." She said.

He sent her a mental flash of what they had been doing away from the camp. For the first time he saw Alestra blush before giving him a grateful nod and hurrying off to find something to help with.

"Never thought I'd see her get flustered. Ah there they are." He said as he jumped down and walked through the camp towards them.

When he met up with them he gave them a wide grin and put his arms around their shoulders.

"So, how was it you two?" He asked.

The two of them stopped dead and went red faced.

"How d-do you-"

"You two remember we are all connected mentally right?" Zach asked.

"So everyone…" Ellie asked mortified.

"No, I was blocking you two from the rest of them. Gotta admit though you two really pushed my limits at the end there. Good job guys." He said with a chuckle as he headed toward the spaceport.

Ellie and Ryan looked at each other then stared at the ground to embarrassed to look the other in the eye.

"I'm gonna go… get some food." Ryan said.

"I'll be at my ship." She said as the realization of how deep the connection Zach had with them went sunk in.

At her ship she found her rifle and lost herself in maintaining her equipment. A few hours in Cressidia came by.

"Hi Ellie." She said sitting down next to the Psionic Mutant.

"Hey. You look down what's up?" Ellie asked.

"I tried to help dad by upgrading those Cruisers systems but when he saw me working on them he yelled at me and kicked me off the ship." She said.

"Well ships are kind of his thing." Ellie said.

"What? But I thought he just wanted to be a soldier. That's all mom ever tells me." Cress said.

"Oh no, he wanted to be this big naval commander. One of the Dominion's Admirals. So Mel would be our Ground Commander, Zach would control our air Forces while Ryan, Beth and I led the ground Assault. We would have been the best Squad out there. He knows the layout of every ship in the Dominion Fleet. Except these new Gorgon cruisers." Ellie said.

"Well I could help. Their fusion cores are terribly designed. I could boost the output of their reactors by at least 30 percent and add extra shielding to prevent damage in case of system failure. But no. I'm just the kid who gets in the way. The one he can't stand. The monster." Cress said slowly curling her hands into fists.

"He doesn't think you're a monster." Ellie said.

"Really? Because when he said it to my face, I think I got the message." Cress said sadly.

Ellie tried to think of something to say but was at a loss for words. Cress' next words made her blood boil however.

"Sometimes I just wish mom had never made me. I'm just a freak to all the Terrans. And half of who I am despises my existence." She said sounding defeated as she wandered off.

Ellie reached out with her mind.

"Ryan, Olette. I need you to watch Cress." Ellie said as she strapped herself into the pilot's seat.

Onboard the Loki

Zach stood at the bridge watching the renovations to the command deck take place. As one of the doors to the bridge opened he turned to see Ellie marching in.

"All of you out. Zach and I need to have a heart to heart." She growled.

They all hurried off the bridge as they saw her Psionics sparking off of her body. She walked up to him and sucker punched his gut leaving him gasping. She pressed her mind against his and he pushed back, shocking her with his iron like concentration.

"How could you say that?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Zach asked as he gulped on air.

"Calling Cress a monster. She's. YOUR. DAUGHTER!" Ellie yelled as she sent him flying with a blow to the chin.

He flared open his wings and landed gently. Ellie leaped after him.

"No she isn't. She's some Zerg Larvae that thinks she is. She's an Abomination. If you think I'll call that THING my daughter then you thought wrong." Zach said spitting out a glob of blood.

Ellie grabbed him by his collar and pressed him against the wall.

"You listen good, Zachary Gavaral. That girl is an emotional train wreck because of what you said. She's genuinely wishing she had never been born. It doesn't matter what anyone but you says. You are the only person she cares about pleasing. She has been trying to gain any amount of approval from you since she was able to think and you've done nothing but shun and belittle her. Now, if you don't think of her as your flesh and blood that's fine. But treat her like a living breathing person. And if I hear you ever say anything like that to her ever again… you'll be losing something. Am I clear?" Ellie asked as she held her Psi Blade near his waist.

He stared at her with wide eyes and slowly nodded. She let him go and he dropped to the floor coughing.

"Good now you go apologize before she does something we all regret. And let her help with the ship improvements. She knows machines." Ellie said.

He rose to his feet and nodded. He straightened up his clothes before calmly walking off the bridge.

Haven's surface, Sam's Watering hole

"Ellie's gonna kill us." Ryan said.

"Yep." Olette said as she gripped her forehead.

Cress was facedown on the table clutching a jug that had contained two liters of hard alcohol five minutes prior. The unconscious girl had downed it in one go and the babysitting duo hadn't had a chance to stop her. When the two of them had found her she was eyeing a gun dangerously and they had desperately thought of ways to calm her down. Ryan had thought this might work but only a shot or two, not this much. He was about to try and wake her when Zach wandered in. He looked terrified and sat at the bar, ordering and downing three shots before noticing Cress and the others. After a few more shots he stood up and stumbled over, barely managing to avoid falling over.

"Hey, kid." He said as he nearly collapsed on her shoulder.

She rolled her head to one side and looked at him in confusion.

"Hey kid. Look I-"

"YOU! FUCK YOU, OLD MAN!" Cress yelled throwing her jug at him.

It missed him by a few feet as she struggled to stand up straight. She flipped him the bird with each of her four hands and stuck her surprisingly long tongue out at him.

"Look I just-" Zach tried to start again but Cress cut him off.

"I'MA MONSTER? THAT IS WHAT YOU SAID, RIGHT? WELL THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET RID OF ME!?" Cress yelled as she stumbled towards him.

Zach didn't say anything but backed away, struggling to maintain his balance. Cress made a surprisingly quick series of movements that ended with her punching him in the cheek and knocking him off his feet.

He lay on the ground shaking before he stood up and socked her in the nose. She fell backwards and landed on the floor gripping her nose as blood ran out. Ryan Olette and the other people in the bar watched the fight with only a slight degree of worry.

"Should we stop them?" Olette asked.

"I don't think so. Zach usually used fights to stop stuff when we were kids. Plus they are to drunk to really hurt each other." Ryan said.

Cress got to her feet and ran at Zach, a movement which appeared quite comical to those watching. Until she punched a few of his teeth out. He managed to stay on his feet but blood ran out of his mouth and a few teeth flew out and bounced on the floor. He retaliated by kicking her in the side, knocking her off her feet and smacking her head into a metal table. She lay on the ground unmoving and Olette hurried over to make sure she was okay. Ryan stared at Zach.

"If Mel were here…" He said eyeing Zach coldly.

"I would ask what the Hell is going on." Mel said standing in the doorway.


	21. Mothers and Monsters

**Mothers and Monsters**

**I've gotten Messages from people who have been confused by Melanie and Zach, namely the appendages on their backs. So to give a visual example that most people know, both function similarly to Doc Oc in Spider-Man 2. Mel's extra 'legs' function as a way to move much faster and over longer distances, and like a spider she can use them to scale walls or Zerg tunnels. When not in use they remain coiled around her midsection. Zach's function almost exactly as Doc Oc's, with the difference being he can retract his. They are based on a Leviathan's and have graspers at the end allowing them to grip surfaces or him to hold objects with them. When not being used they retract into his back. And no Cressidia does not have either of these, she's almost completely humanoid except for an extra set of arms eyes and her skin being chitinous.**

Mel stood crossing her arms, her golden glowing eyes boring holes into everyone. Everyone not involved with the fight snuck out of the bar and ran off. Zach matched her stare with his own steely gaze.

"What did you do?" Mel asked quietly.

"I did what had to be done. She isn't mine. She's a f-" Zach was silenced as Mel clapped a hand over his face, blocking his mouth.

She squeezed her extremely long fingers around his head and stared into his eyes for a few moments. When he didn't back down she turned and threw him out the door. He tumbled and came to a stop against one of the colony homes. Mel ran outside using the legs on her back to rise to her full height, ten feet in the air. Zach pushed himself up and spread open his wings before leaping into the air. He hovered out of her reach and caught his breath.

"Guys think about what you're- okay never mind." Ryan said as he received glares from both of them.

They stared each other down and Zach threw a handful of glaives at Mel. She swatted them aside before shooting a barrage of spines out of her arm. The spines cut through his wings and he struggled to stay aloft as he flapped his wings rapidly. He floated to the ground where Mel charged at him. He jumped out of the way and tumbled on the ground as she quickly jumped at him. She landed on him and straddled his stomach pinning him to the ground and smashing her fist into his face. There was a resounding crack as his nose broke but he hardly flinched.

"Why? Why don't you accept her?" Mel asked.

"She's not a part of me. She never was. She was some experiment that yo-" He stopped as Mel struck the side of his head.

"She is not an experiment or a freak. She isn't some monster, abomination or amalgamation. She's child who just wants some sign of recognition from her father. She may not be human but neither are you. Or have you forgotten that bit?" Mel asked.

Zach said nothing as she stared down at him. He glanced over at Cress who was beginning to wake up. He sighed as he looked up at Mel.

"I'll try. No promises." He said.

"It's a start." She said as she let him up.

"But if you ever hurt her like that again…" Mel threatened as her spider legs shot out and stopped an inch from his throat.

She let the threat hang there for a moment before smiling and walking away. Zach walked over to Cress, Ryan and Olette as they tried to help her as she woke up.

"She okay?" He asked.

"A bruise on her forehead. A few others but nothing serious." Olette said.

"Zach, I wouldn't hurt her again." Ryan said.

"Yeah. Can you guys give us a minute?" He asked.

The duo blinked at him.

"You want us to leave you alone with her?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. I've gotta talk to her. Alone." Zach said.

"Okay. Just remember Mel's threat. Good luck buddy." Ryan said as he and Olette walked away.

Zach swore he heard them placing bets. He sat down next to Cress and scratched at some of the wounds he had received from the day.

"Why is every woman in my life so goddamn dangerous?" He asked himself.

He looked over at Cress as she woke up and gripped her forehead.

"Owww." She said as she rubbed the bruise.

"Sorry about that." He said.

"What do you want?" Cress asked.

"I made a promise. That I would try to be kinder to you." He said.

"Oh that's such a big promise." Cress asked.

"Do you want to know why I hate the Zerg so much? Why I have such a hard time being around you in particular?" Zach asked in annoyance.

Cress said nothing but gave him an unimpressed look.

"When I was four I lived on a colony world way out on the edge of the Confederacy. I had my parents, my sister, a few friends. Then the Zerg invaded. The infestation spread through the whole place. Only about two dozen of us made it out. I had to watch my family and friends get infested. The last thing I saw was my sister being burned alive by a Firebat. Then I ended up at that orphanage on Meinhoff and Mel was the only one who really reached out to me. Then the Zerg infested Meinhoff. I had to put rounds through a few of my friends heads. I've seen more of my friends and family die from the Zerg than most. And you… you look far too much like my sister after she got infested. All I can see is her burning." Zach said.

"Can you show me?" Cress asked.

"What?!" Zach asked horrified.

"Can you show me? Everything I know about you leads me to believe that you wouldn't be above making this up. So show me. Make me understand." Cress said giving him an icy glare.

"You take after Mel, you know that right?" He asked as he pressed his forehead against hers.

Images flashed through her mind. Screams, fire, dozens of bodies lying on the ground engulfed in flames and in the center a young woman being roasted by an armored soldier. The smell of burning flesh burned her nose, she could taste the stench. She could feel the heat from the flames. She could feel all the emotions flowing through Zach. The Swarm's forces flowed over everything in sight like a living flood. Then her vision went dark and she was back in the present. She was shaking as Zach looked at her.

"Now do you understand?" He asked as she saw his hands trembling.

She didn't say anything for a moment. Then simply wrapped her arms around him. His shaking slowly went away and she smiled at him.

"I can always change. I'm not particularly attached to my appearance." She said.

"You don't have t-" Zach stopped as she gave him a questioning look.

"I do. Because if I don't you won't be able to stand the sight of me. Besides mom needs practice. And then I can finish those Adjustments to the Loki." Cress said.

"What were you planning?" Zach asked as they sat back to back.

"Boosting their Reactors. Shielding them so they can't flood the ships with radiation. I also had some ideas on the weapons systems…" Cress said as she explained all of her design ideas to him.

Two hours later…

Zach and Cress found Mel supervising the creation of a new cavern. She turned to them and crossed her arms.

"Yes?" She asked tersely.

"We talked it out. And she has something to ask you." Zach said calmly.

"Can you change my appearance?" Cress asked.

"Why?!" Mel asked surprised.

"Well… reasons. But this isn't just a trivial request. Mother." Cress said adding the last word as a bargain.

Mel stared at the two of them for a moment.

"Have you thought about this thoroughly? Given it precise thought?" Mel asked.

"Yes. And I have decided on an appearance." Cress said sharing a mental image.

"Hmm a few that are unrealistic, but overall manageable. I assume this has something to do with you?" Mel asked looking at Zach.

"Partially. I've got some changes to see. I'll see you later kiddo." Zach said ruffling Cress' dreadlocks.

Mel gaped as Cress waved goodbye with a smile.

"What the hell did you two talk about?" She asked gripping Cressidia's shoulders.

"Personal stuff. He's gotta tell you. Not me." Cress said.

Mel gave the girl a hard stare. After a moment she sighed.

"Let's go. Alestra has a mutation pool set up." Mel said.

Ellie's Ship

Ellie loaded the last of the renewed supplies onto the ship and packed them into their compartments. She looked over as Ryan and Olette passed by.

"Hey you missed the fight!" Ryan called out.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"Well Zach tried to apologize but he and Cress ended up fighting. Then he and Mel started fighting. Here." Ryan said touching his clawed hand to her forehead.

As the images flowed into her mind she clenched her fist in anger.

"I warned him…" She said igniting her Psi Blade.

"H-hey. He seems to be better. Give him a chance." Olette said.

Ellie tried to run off but the two of them held her back and forced her to sit down.

"They worked it out Ellie. Give him a break." Ryan said.

"Fine. But if I hear anything about him hurting her then I'm going to kick his ass to Char and back." Ellie growled.

"And we'll help. But just let this time go. This isn't something that is just going to instantly disappear." Ryan said.

Ellie nodded and turned back to her ship. Her rifle still needed to be cleaned and she had to run a check on her armor.

"I'll be here. Jim said that they found some files on Korhal. Something big." Ellie said.

"Really? Planning on going with them?" Olette asked.

"Yeah. I wanna put my Psionics to the test. Whatever I forced out of my mind was really screwing with them." Ellie said as she started inspecting her suits stealth module.

"Well I hope that wasn't for nothing. Looked like it hurt worse than anything." Ryan said.

"It did. I plan on figuring out whatever it was, sooner rather than later. But I'm at a loss for right now. You guys coming with us to see what the Raiders found?" Ellie asked.

"I am. What about you?" Ryan asked looking at Olette.

"Sure. I'll see if any of the others will come as well. We could all use the combat experience." Olette said as she wandered off.

Ryan spent the next three hours helping Ellie get her equipment in peak operating condition before Jim gave the heads up for warp. As Ellie prepped the ship Olette arrived followed by Hyl and the Zergling twins.

"Everyone else is helping with other matters." Olette said.

"Alright strap in. I'm taking us up." Ellie said as the engines spun to full speed.

They took off into the sky and landed in the Hyperion's hangar just a few moments before it jumped into warp. Ellie left the others to get prepped in the Hangar while she walked to the bridge. Jim and Matt were both looking over the reports on the station.

"So what're we looking at?" She asked.

"Officially, a Beryllium storage facility. But here in the latest reports, everyone who worked at the facility is set to be executed. Seems a bit odd don't it?" Jim said.

"Just a bit. So what's the plan? Usual enemy destruction?" Ellie asked.

"Smash and grab. Small team heads in and we find out what we can about this place. I'm heading in myself on this one." Jim said.

"The old mans gonna throw down? This I gotta see." Ellie asked with a smile.

"I ain't that old. Prep for a fight though, looks like this place has a pretty big security detail." Jim said.

"On it." Ellie said as she headed back to the hangar.

She arrived to see Ty and Syra gearing up and chatting with Hyl and Olette.

"So how smart are you guys? I mean I saw that kid making custom equipment for you guys. Are you all that smart?" Ty asked.

"No. We all started with an imprint of Ellie's memories and certain things stuck for each of us. But now? I'd say about as smart as the average dominion civilian. Maybe a bit more naive." Hyl said.

"Huh. Do you remember… y'know being in the swarm?" Syra asked.

"It's just kind of a fuzzy blur. I remember what it was like. Just no specifics, like I can remember what it felt like, but the whole experience is just a long blurry memory. Felt awful though." Olette said.

"I bet. Could you do anything on your own? Or was everything ordered?" Ty asked.

"We could wander around, we were lucky since we were on a desolate world. We just milled about waiting for the Swarm to need our Brood. We were animals. I can remember all the genetically programmed instincts… just thinking about it makes me sick." Olette said.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to pry like that." Syra said.

"It's fine. Now we can get back at Kerrigan and try to free the other broods." Hyl said flexing her claws.

"Good attitude. Once you've got something to work toward you always know what you need to do." Ty said as the four of them stood side by side geared up.

"Hey guys." Ellie said as she approached them.

"Hey boss. You ready to find one of the Dominions dirty secrets?" Ty asked.

"You bet. Where's Ryan?" Ellie asked.

"Right here. Just had to grab some more ammo. Canister shots run out fast you know." He said sporting a metal case on his back.

"Will you be able to burrow with that?" Ellie asked.

"No, but metal takes too long to tunnel through. We won't be able to tunnel our way around." Ryan said. "So I'm packing a bit of extra gear since I can't dig my way out."

"Smart. We should be there soon. Let's get ready. We're taking Jim's personal shuttle to the facility." Ellie said as they made their way towards Jim's ship.

As the ship dropped out of warp they could see the asteroid out of the hangar door. Jim arrived a few minutes later accompanied by three of the War Pig mercenary marines. The nine of them boarded the shuttle and sat in silence as they approached the facility. Each of them inspected their equipment before the pilot spun the ship around and they hopped out onto a Loading area.

Ellie turned on her suits camouflage before approaching the blast door. Jim whistled to her and tossed her a belt of large round objects to her.

"Breaching charges. Get one on the door." He said.

She nodded and put one of them on the center of the door and tapped the glowing button. It started beeping and she took a few steps back. When it blew the door open she rushed inside and found a group of soldiers waiting. She snuck around to the side and when Jim and the others came in she sniped the leader, A Firebat, causing him to fall over dead. When they had dispatched the dominion soldiers they continued onward.

They didn't find anything in the next few labs until they came to a very highly defended blast door. Ellie blew the door open and they cautiously walked inside. They found stasis tubes with Zerg in them, but they were deformed, twisted and something about them gave Ellie and Ryan chills.

"Matt you got a scan of these things?" Jim asked.

"Give me a minute, the base is giving off massive interference. S-sir, I'm detecting both Zerg and Protoss DNA in those creatures." Matt said.

"How's that possible? Zerg can't infest Protoss." Jim asked.

"They weren't infested. Their genetic material was spliced together. Sir if they managed to fuse Zerg and Protoss…" Matt let the statement hang in the air.

"We gotta blow this place sky high. Does the Hyperion have enough firepower?" Jim asked.

"No but there's a massive power source near the center of the base. If you put that on a meltdown it would vaporize the facility." Matt said.

"All right. Let's get going." Jim said.

They continued on, fighting maddened Protoss and Zerg. As they got closer Ellie could feel a sense of dread fill her mind. Just before the Core room they came across a Brutalisk in a containment unit.

Ellie stared at the beast before a scientist messed with the controls and opened the force field keeping it under control.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll take care of this thing." She said stowing her rifle on her back.

The Brutalisk broke its shackles and roared at her. Her eyes glowed with power as she stopped its claw in midair inches from her hand. The others ran around it and went in to the far room. Ellie activated her Psi Blade and rolled under the creature, cutting out two of its legs. The creature fell forward smashing into various laboratory equipment. Ellie grinned as the monster struggled to gain its balance. She was thinking of how to dispatch it when swung a claw at her, throwing her across the lab into a row of stasis tanks, as she hit them she could feel the glass from the tanks cutting through her suit. One of the deformed Zerg creatures was draped on her back and she tossed it off the side. The Brutalisk was scurrying around the lab now devouring researchers and the life forms in the tanks. As it ate them Ellie watched its skin warp and change, growing smoother and more like the creatures. When it returned its attention to her she was looking at a different creature, it had blue and purple skin, half formed arms and clawed feet. But the most striking difference were its eyes. It was staring at her with intelligence. It wanted to destroy her. It shot towards her and she held up her hands in a desperate hope that she could stop it. Lightning arced from her hands and struck the creature in its neck. It tried to reach her but the Lightning arced all across its body and its eyes bugged out before popping. The creature collapsed in a steaming pile of blood and guts. Ellie was breathing heavily as she looked at her hands, the plating from her suit was gone, leaving only small burns on her hands. She ran into the next room and found a massive machine with a disturbing creature contained in the center. It was just like the mutated Brutalisk. Intelligent. Powerful. Maddened. She turned away from it and caught up with the others. They were destroying the coolant systems for the stations core and as she arrived they blew up the last few pieces. Alarms sounded.

"Warning. Warning. Core Failure imminent. Containment Failing. Evacuate immediately." A computer said.

"We've gotta go." Ellie yelled over the alarms.

"Yeah. Let's move!" Jim yelled.

As they turned to leave, the creature broke out of its containment bubble.

"Warning Hybrid loose."

Ellie watched it go. It ripped its way into the lab where the Brutalisk had been and the wall collapsed behind it.

"We can't go that way. That thing will kill us." Ellie said.

"Yeah. Come on there's another exit this way." Ryan said as he ran towards the opposite end of the lab.

They found a service door and charged out, following scattered directions from Matt and the tide of fleeing Terrans. They were about to run into a group of Dominion Troops when the wall collapsed on top of the red armored soldiers. The Creature from before walked out of the breach seemingly unfazed by the wall. It turned to face them and it's eyes fixed on Ellie.

She stared back, unnerved by its ferocious glare. It let loose a savage roar and a wave of Psionic force lifted them and much of the nearby debris off the ground and sent them flying towards the wall.

"We've gotta get past it. We can lose it in the smaller hallways." Jim said as they struggled to their feet.

"It wants me I'll buy you time." Ellie said gripping her rifle.

They nodded and started making their way along the outer wall. Ellie stared down the creature, making sure she had rounds in the clip. She lined up a shot and pulled the trigger. The bullet embedded itself into the creature's neck but it seemed only mildly aggravated. It rushed towards her, covering the distance in just a few colossal steps. She tried to stop its claw but it smashed her Psionic barrier and crushed her against the wall. Her ribs cracked under the force and she could feel her suit being crushed under the force. She tried to catch her breath but it kept forcing the air out of her lungs. Her vision went fuzzy and she almost blacked out. Suddenly the pressure disappeared and she fell to the ground, breaking her nose as she landed.

She looked up to see the creature's side smoking in a wide area. It was charging off after the others, one of whom had a very large weapon. They fired a glowing projectile and the creature shrieked as it made impact. Ellie struggled to stand, still lightheaded. As she unsteadily got to her feet her hand brushed against the ammo belt on her chest. She still had three breaching charges. She shook her head and jogged towards the creature. She activated the explosives and threw them at the creature's feet. As they activated she smiled. The charges detonated and the creature began falling out into open space. She watched it go and looked to the others. They were gathered around the wall which was splattered with red blood. Ellie limped over and found Hyl holding the weapon from earlier. Her chest had been gouged out and she was staring lifelessly into space. They stood still for a moment before Jim pulled them back to reality.

"We've gotta go!" He yelled.

They looked at him and nodded. Olette pulled Hyl's corpse onto her back and carried the body along with her. Ryan grabbed the weapon Hyl had been holding and ran after them. They made their way through the collapsing facility and could hear the shuttles when a roar stopped them in their tracks.

Ellie, Ryan and Jim we're bringing up the rear and looked behind them to see the monster charging after them, burned and bruised but still plenty strong. They ran as fast as they could towards the shuttle pads, straight past a line of dominion troops. They grabbed the nearest transport and were off the ground when the creature emerged from the facility. It screamed at them as they left and Ellie could feel its power burning into her mind. It was like someone had branded her consciousness.

She looked at the others, Olette was crying over Hyl and Ryan was looking around, dazed. The mercenaries Jim had brought were in the back quiet and emotionless. Jim was piloting the shuttle himself and he was shaking inside his suit. Ty and Syra were watching Olette from afar. Zed and Zira were splinting Zira's arm, she had been hit with a falling steel beam and it had left one side of her completely shattered. Ellie looked at herself, her armor was cracked all over, she could feel tiny rivulets of blood running down her back from the cuts she had received when fighting the Brutalisk. She closed her eyes for just a moment and fell unconscious.

**So as we approach Char, slowly but surely, I feel the need to say that once we get to the point where the Wings of Liberty Campaign ends things will be changing. The story layout will be a collection of stories focusing on characters other than Ellie and what they are doing in the gap. Another change will be the time span between WoL and HotS. It may be long or shorter, depending on how things unfold. The final difference will be a series of chapters introducing the last batch of characters that will come into play later. For now though my goal is to finish up WoL by Christmas. Minimum. Well it's currently 12:00 am so I'll see you guys later**.


	22. The Calm Before the

**The Calm Before the…**

**This Chapter contains mature jokes and potentially upsetting views. This is your first and last warning.**

Ellie awoke to Mel shaking her shoulders. She opened her eyes reluctantly and stared at her friend.

"Ellie! Can you hear me?" Mel asked.

Ellie nodded before she felt something poking her back. She looked down trying to get a glimpse of her back but couldn't stretch her neck far enough. She did see thin trails of blood running down the bench next to her though. She felt a sharp sting in her back and her vision went black.

When she opened her eyes again the fogginess in her head was gone. She sat up looking around. She was in a medical bay, a scene growing ever more familiar to her. Her back was sore but she got to her feet and started putting her clothes on. The plus side of having smooth chitin skin, she could actually wear clothes, unlike Kerrigan. As she was nearly dressed the door opened and Ryan ran in. Ellie instinctively covered herself then remembered that it was pointless, as her upper body at least was completely covered in chitin. She pulled on a Tshirt and faced him.

"Are you okay?" He asked looking very winded.

"Yeah wh-" She stopped as he gave her a blow to the jaw that knocked her to her knees.

"How could you be so STUPID?!" He yelled.

Ellie cradled her jaw and spat out a tooth. She got to her feet and punched him in the gut.

"Because it was fight that thing or let the others get crippled or worse." She said.

"You could have died yourself! Do you even care if you die?" He asked.

"I do but I'll use all of my power to save others if I can. It's what I've always done and I always will." She said.

"But… that thing… it was more powerful than you and you knew it. You shouldn't fight something like that alone. Let us help you." Ryan said.

"How? It was virtually impervious to bullets, grenades didn't seem to faze it. The only thing besides me that could've hurt it was the weapon Hyl found. Just let it go. I did the best I could in that situation. Get off my back about it." Ellie said getting angry as she remembered Hyl.

"Ellie. Without your parents around someone else has to keep you from throwing yourself into danger." Ryan said.

"Shut up." Ellie warned as her hands balled into fists and green energy sparked around them.

"No! You've been throwing yourself into danger since Meinhoff! I'm telling you right now that if you don't stop you are going to di-ack!" He cried as he was lifted off the ground and slammed against the far wall.

"You think I don't know that? I don't need someone to tell me what will happen if I continue going like this. But I don't have any choice. I need to protect us, stop Kerrigan and Mengsk. Deal with whatever was living in my head! I'm doing everything I can and then some! Now just let me do what I need to!" She said as she ran outside and he slid to the ground.

She was in one of the fringe Colony camps, looking around she could see it was dusk, and no one was around. She marched over to a tree and smashed her hand against it, leaving a mark on the trunk. Her fingers flared with pain but she merely sank to the ground and cried, letting out everything, her anger and sadness over the losses she had suffered, her fear from her encounter with the monster, her helplessness against Kerrigan. She rested her head against the tree as the tears flowed over her cheeks.

Ryan watched from afar patiently waiting.

The next day, Haven Tunnel Hub

Melanie positioned the last of her equipment around the cave and smiled to herself. She had an impressive area of about forty square feet that was now mostly occupied by Medical Equipment and bio tech. It was large enough for her to fully extend her secondary legs and still have room. She and Cress had spent the previous twelve hours constructing a door for her laboratory and installing proper metal walls. She turned to look as Zach entered.

"What do you think?" She asked gesturing to the equipment.

"I think, you'll be seeing Ellie in here a lot." Zach said.

"Oh god I hope not. But, you're probably right. Now come here." Melanie said wrapping her arms around him.

Later, Haven Tunnel Hub

Ellie looked out over the pit. It was about four hundred feet across, with eight different levels, each with a few dozen entrance ways. She could see Mutants and Terrans working on each level, either transporting cargo and supplies or carving out new tunnels. The bottom Ring didn't have any tunnels but there were structures resting in the crater. She and Ryan were standing on the lip of the top ring. He had brought her over to see the progress that they had made.

"It looks awesome but won't this many tunnels make the ground unstable?" Ellie asked.

"Nope, thanks to a resin that Nydus worms produce when they tunnel we can make the edges strong enough to weather anything short of a massive earthquake. What do you think the crust of Char looks like?" Ryan asked.

Ellie shrugged as the two of them sat on the edge overlooking the excavation. She looked down as the tunnel below them rumbled. A whole pack of the unmutated Zerg were charging out into the crater. She was concerned until a pair of Ultralisks emerged with a dozen Colonists riding on their backs. She could see equipment and construction supplies alongside the humans and grinned at the sight.

"Don't they object? I mean their being used like pack animals." Ellie asked.

"I was talking to the others about that. They don't want to be… civilized. They don't want to fight but they aren't going to behave like Terrans. It's a complicated idea. Suffice to say they stand with us." Ryan said.

"Alright. Now what about the infested? How are they settling in?" Ellie asked.

"About as well as we'd hoped. Most of the colonists are used to it but a few dozen think that the infection should be burned out. Shouldn't be a problem." Zach said.

"That's good. I thought that more of them might be openly hostile. It's good to know that we have open minded people here." Ellie said as she lay on her back on the grass, enjoying the warm sun.

Ryan lay down next to her and they spent the afternoon enjoying each other's company and the beautiful day.

Zira, Haven Primary Settlement

Zira sat in the infirmary gritting her teeth as the human Doctor inspected her arm. This was the final part of her check up and she wasn't about to start bawling now. He gingerly placed the tape on her arm and began wrapping up the splint.

"With your regenerative speed your bones should be strong enough to use in two days at the most. I've set them, so all you need to do is keep them in place. Understand?" He asked.

"Y- hsss- yes." She said as he pulled the splint tight.

"Good. I'll call your brother in and make sure he knows to help you." The Doctor said as he left the room.

Zira grimaced as she moved her fingers. They were still sore but usable. From what the doctor had told her she had broken nearly everything on half of her body. So having her hand heal itself properly was a plus. Now because she didn't want to bother Alestra or Melanie she was hear at a Human clinic, being treated like any other patient, surprisingly. She yawned as the painkillers the Doctor had given her set in, drowsiness was a side effect. By the time Zed and the Doctor came back she was leaning against the wall fast asleep.

"I didn't give her a high dosage, she shouldn't have fallen asleep so quickly." He said.

"Do they suppress adrenaline?" Zed asked.

"Yes actually. Why do you ask?"

"Zerglings constantly have Adrenaline pumping through their systems. Without it we get exhausted, so something like these would put us right to sleep." Zed said.

"I see. I'll have to consult with your medics to see if any of our other medications would affect you all disproportionately. You and your sister have Physiology so similar to a humans I hadn't considered that possibility." The Doctor said.

"It's fine. She needs the rest. So how many of these will numb her up?" Zed asked.

"Ah, two and just to make sure that her bones heal properly…"

Zed listened as the Doctor told him how to care for Zira while she was injured and left an hour later with Zira fast asleep in a wheelchair.

Ty, Terra and Syra, Gorgon Company Barracks

"So sis what's it like being Half Woman Half Zerg?" Syra asked.

"Not that different. Stronger than I used to be but I didn't go for a whole mutation like Ellie or Ryan. Though my arms are a lot tougher, I tried a it of Boxing with U and I could barely feel it when he punched my arm. Still knocked me on my ass but couldn't feel it." Terra said with a laugh.

"He seems like a pretty cool guy. Level headed, easy going. And the guys built like a tank." Ty said.

"He's definitely the easiest to get along with out of all of them. Jace and Olette are nice but the twins are hard to talk to, they aren't mean just… closed off." Terra said.

"I figured. They seemed pretty quiet." Syra said handing a beer to them.

"So what's the plan? Go out and see if we can find something to do?" Terra asked.

"Actually I was thinking a movie night. It's been awhile since we got the chance to just unwind and relax." Syra said.

"I like the sound of that. Just the three of us?" Terra asked.

"I was thinking about inviting some of the others. I think Ellie could do with some time to not have the weight of the world on her shoulders." Syra said.

"Perfect. She and her friends could all do with that." Ty said.

"I can ask them if you want." Terra said taking a swig.

"If you would." Syra said as she walked into another room.

Terra closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them quickly and her face grew red.

"What?" Ty asked.

"When you talk to someone through or Psionic Link you can kinda sense their thoughts. I may have intruded on a personal moment. Good news though Mel and Zach will be here." Terra said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"And Ellie and Zach?" Syra called from another room.

"Let me see." Terra said as she located the young leader.

A few minutes of searching and she found Ellie.

'Hey Ellie, were having a movie night, feel like coming?' Terra asked.

'Huh? Oh sorry, just woke up. Sounds like fun. We'll head over in a bit.' Ellie said as she cut off the Psionic connection.

"She's in. Do we have enough room for everyone?" Terra asked.

"Should." Ty said.

"Alright now to just decide what to watch." Terra said as she and Ty started listing off movies.

Alestra's lab

Alestra drummed her fingers against the metal desk. She worried about the young ones physical health. She had never tried to do finely manipulate genetics. And the young one did not have nearly the amount of Biomass to make her feel comfortable with a mishap. She had had to reorganize the internal organs, muscular structure, even slight modifications to her skeletal structure. And that was before all of the human genetic material she had to introduce. She had described the risks to some of the colonists that had come by and they had called it a… crapshoot. So here she sat hoping that it worked.

As she waited the door to her lab opened. She turned to see Dr. Hanson entering.

"Hello Doctor." She said.

"Hello." Ariel said as she looked around.

"Can I help you?" Alestra asked.

"No, I was just checking on you. You haven't left here since that girl came in." Ariel said.

"I worry for her. Her body could be deformed or the mutations could run rampant in her system, leading to an equivalent of Cancer." Alestra said.

"Can't you shape the mutations?"

"This isn't like what I did for my Brood. Those relied on human genetics. This required me to spin new strands. Intertwining human and Zerg genetic material, without one overpowering the other. You can see the challenge I presume?" Alestra asked.

"Quite. Will she be in there for awhile?" Ariel asked.

"She will be emerging so-" Alestra as the casing of the mutation cell thumped.

They looked over to see a humanoid form pressed against the edge. Alestra hurried over and cracked open the casing. Mutagen gel spilled out as Cressidia fell onto the ground gasping for air. Alestra helped her to her feet and she struggled to find her balance. Her right arms pressed against the wall and she felt her face with one of her left hands. Her fingers touched smooth skin and she gave a cry of shock. Dr. Hanson stared at her with a mix of shock and excitement.

"Y-your human? Or more human?" Ariel asked.

Cress nodded as she stood up on her own so she could get a look at herself. She appeared, mostly, as a human in her teens. She had stark pale skin instead of the chitin that had previously covered her body. She felt the top of her head to find hair, not dreadlocked chitin. Though she felt a little dismay when she looked at her arms. She had six in total, two attached at her shoulders, two halfway down her ribcage and two attached at her shoulder blades. But on each, roughly around the elbow, her arms became covered in chitin, spiked and slightly jagged. Her hands each had six clawed digits. Overall she couldn't complain, she smiled at Alestra.

"I couldn't ask for better." She said as she hugged the brood mother.

"Physically you appear well, but we should check internally. Your organs were rearranged dramatically, the mutation process could have caused problems." Alestra said.

"And you could benefit from some clothes." Ariel said looking no lower than eye level.

Cress looked herself again and covered herself with her hands. She blushed as she realized what her lack of chitin meant.

"I'm sure we have something in your size at my lab. In the meantime…" Ariel said as she wrapped her lab coat around Cress.

"We could also check your vitals there." Alestra said.

"That we could. Let's go." Ariel said leading the way.

Ellie and Ryan

Ellie smiled as she and Ryan walked through the camp.

"You're happy." He said.

"Yep. No monsters to fight, no invading aliens, nothing needs me at the moment. Just a night to relax and enjoy some movies." She said.

"Yeah. Almost seems normal." Ryan said.

"Almost. Just wish I had normal fingers. These things are like knives." Ellie said frowning at her hands.

"Hey at least you have hands. I have a third arm that has a foot long claw instead of a hand. I have cut myself more than a few times." He said scratching at his side.

"True. But they're still sharp." Ellie said.

"Oh you have no reason to whine. Your both fine." Mel said as she walked up to them.

"And what do you have to complain about? You can change your appearance at will." Ryan said.

"True, but I also have extra eyes, mandibles attached to my jaw, extra sets of arms and spider legs coming out of my back." Mel said gesturing with her six hands.

"But those are useful! My razor fingers are useful for fighting and that's about it." Ellie said.

"You could try wood carving." Mel said with a laugh.

"Where's Zach? Thought he'd be with you." Ryan said looking for his friend.

"He said he had to check something out before he came over. He'll meet us there." Mel said.

"Cool. Hope he's not working to hard." Ellie said.

"Oh I don't think he is. Today at least." Mel said.

"What does that mean?" Ellie asked.

"You'll see. Or you can ask him when he gets here." Mel said.

They walked on, joking as they searched for Gorgon Company's place. It was a standard residential unit meant for one hundred and fifty occupants but only Gorgon Squad and the species leaders of the Rogue Brood lived in it. They found Terra and Ty out front laughing to themselves as they watched a small screen. It was an odd sight. Especially since Olette and Jace were laughing alongside them.

"What's so funny?" Mel asked.

"Oh a Vid going around. It's some guy on Korhal trying to get into the Academy but it's just so… bad." Terra said.

They all watched the video. The man in question failed on reloading his rifle, utterly failed an obstacle course and the answers he gave on the oral portion had all of them laughing.

"How do you come up with that? 'Well I'll go hand to hand with the Ultralisk.'" Ryan said between breaths.

"I liked his idea with the Roach. 'Well I'd hop on and ride it all the way to the Zerg Base. Then I'll blow up the whole thing.' Yeah not like it wouldn't melt your face with corrosive Acid." Olette said with a chuckle.

They spent the next hour watching other humorous videos and laughing to themselves. They stopped when Zach flew down carrying another person. Zach smiled as he set them down on her feet and leaned on her shoulder.

"Guess who?" He asked with a joyful smile.

They looked her over for a moment before Melanie covered her mouth.

"Cress?" She asked.

"Hi." Cress said waving shyly with one arm as the other five fidgeted behind her back.

She was wearing a Black Tanktop with holes cut for her extra arms and a pair of Jeans. She had black hair that reached halfway down her back and brilliantly blue eyes. Her skin had gained a few shades of color after an hour in the sun. She looked away from all of them as they continued to stare at her.

"Guys? Staring much?" Zach asked.

"Right! Sorry Cress. I just don't think any of us were expecting you to be ready so quick." Ellie said.

"Yeah I didn't either. But uh how do I look?" Cress asked.

"You look like an actual kid now." Ty said.

Cress gave him a mischievous smile.

"Looks can be deceiving. I can still lift more than you I bet." She said confidently.

"I don't doubt it. But hey we didn't come here to compete. We came for some good ole fashioned movies." Ty said.

"Yeah what are we watching?" Olette asked.

"Some ancient movies. Old superhero films from the dawn of the Millennia." Ty said.

"As in 500 years ago? Oh these are going to be so cheesy." Terra said.

"Well I managed to get two that seemed to be the best way back when. Deadpool and Logan." Ty said as he pulled up the films.

"Where'd you even find those relics?" Mel asked.

"Jim has a lot more than an old fashioned Jukebox. But once everyone gets here we'll start." Ty said as he went inside and the others followed.

He and Terra had cleared out an area for the whole group to sit and 'acquired' a very large TV and a few couches. The Rest of Gorgon Company arrived shortly along with U and the Zergling Twins. As the movie started Syra showed up carrying a massive bag of Popcorn over her shoulder. She set the bag in the middle of the room and everyone kept grabbing handfuls throughout the show. Melanie tried covering Cress' eyes but the girl looked at her mother and said very bluntly "Mom Please, I've been connected to Ellie and Ryan when they've done worse. Or you earlier today." She said turning back to the movie.

Mel, Ellie, Ryan and Zach grew bright red as Ty did a coughed on his beer. Cress smiled to herself as the others stared at the four of them. Soon however they embarrassment was forgotten as they were all enthralled by the movies. By the end of Logan many had tears in their eyes.

"That was so sad." Cress said.

"Ty why would you pick this?" David asked.

"I didn't know! I just know it was popular when it was new." Ty said defensively.

They spent a few minutes talking before Jenny pulled out a deck of cards.

"Anyone up for a few rounds of poker?" She asked.

An hour later they were all, aside from Cress and Ellie, drunk. Jenny was out of credits and frustrated.

"All right I wager my shirt!" She shouted.

"Strip poker really? Ready to strip down are ya?" Olette said wrapping her arm around Jenny's shoulder.

"You bet if it means I get to win!" Jenny yelled.

Thirty minutes later everyone was in their underwear. Ellie and Cress were trying not to laugh as the others were completely wasted. Ellie raised an eyebrow as she saw Olette and and Jenny disappear into a bedroom and lock the door. David was trying to flirt with Zira, who was passed out in her wheelchair. U was passed out on top of Terra and Syra who were trying to carry him to his room. Ty and Sarah were making out in a corner while Ryan had his arm around Zed's shoulder and was talking to him about… fruit? His sentences were hardly coherent but Zed seemed to understand as he was agreeing with him. Scott was snoring on the table as he drooled. Jace and Fiona were laughing incoherently with each other and they seemed to be falling asleep as they were moving quite sluggishly. Ellie and Cress gathered up everyone's clothes and formed a pile while they waited for everyone to pass out from exhaustion or alcohol. When everyone was out they carried the ones who hadn't already gone back to their beds. And a few they carried back in couples. They mischievously grinned as they put everyone in beds. When they were done the duo sat in the kitchen and Cress stared at Ellie.

"What's up kiddo?" She asked.

"Just… wondering how you don't wanna be like this." Cress said as she gestured to herself.

"What? Hot and human?" Ellie asked.

"Hot? I uh… thought you were with Ryan?" Cress asked nervously growing red.

"I am. But I always noticed how pretty the girls were growing up to. I could go either way but Ryan is my best friend. I may be like a Sister to Melanie but Ryan knows me better than anyone. But to answer your question, because it would not be practical for me. With the amount of combat I'm bound to see in the future being human would not be a good idea. I would love to look like I did before… this. But not until I'm positive that I'm not gonna get shot at again for a good long while." Ellie said.

"When you say you could go either way… what does that mean?" Cress asked.

"Do I really have to say it?" Ellie asked.

"I've had a bit to drink. Don't make me think." Cress said.

"I am Bi. I like guys and girls. Got a lot of shit for it in school to. Stupid Leslie." Ellie said.

"Leslie?" Cress asked.

"Girl I had a crush on in school. I told her and she told her little group of friends. They held it over my head for the longest time. Until Mel and Zach scared the crap out of them." Ellie said.

"My parents? What did they do?" Cress asked.

Ellie placed her hand on Cress' forehead and a scene played out in their heads.

Ellie was in a locker room getting changed when a tall blonde girl and three others walked up and kicked the back of her knee. Ellie fell and hit her head on the edge of the locker. Tears filled her eyes but she said nothing as the girls laughed.

"Ahem." A voice said behind them.

The girls turned around to see Melanie holding a bucket of water. She threw it on them and they screeched hysterically. They each went to get changed and as they did both Zach and Melanie snapped pictures of them. The girls screamed as they covered themselves up when they saw Zach.

"You get out of here or I'll tell Mrs-" Leslie stopped as the Teacher walked in.

"Mrs. Palmer they-" The teacher ignored her and helped Ellie to her feet and took her into her office.

Ellie watched Zach and Mel through the window and listened.

"Now listen up. You leave Ellie alone or these pictures end up all over the school. I know more than a few people would gladly take them." Zach said.

Leslie and her group nodded quickly. Zach and Mel waved to the Teacher as she put a bandage on Ellie's forehead.

"I don't think they'll bother you again, will they?" The Teacher asked.

Ellie smiled as she shook her head.

The image faded and Ellie smiled to herself.

"Did they say anything?" Cress asked.

"Leslie did at an assembly. There were a lot of new posters up the next day. After that she lost her popular girl status. A few months after that she apologized to me, and in return your parents, Ryan, Beth and I went around and made sure no one messed with her. Though I was a bit disappointed she didn't feel the same way about me. But I did learn two things from that. Blackmail is just a terrible idea. And Leslie was very pretty." Ellie said with a smile.

"You took a poster didn't you?" Cress asked.

"I took a few. That was when my parents found out. They didn't really care, just worried about me at school. But I'm glad it happened. It was mortifying at the time but now? I'm comfortable with who I am, and I think all that judgement I got from people helped with… this." Ellie said gesturing to herself.

"You didn't care so much about what everyone thought."

"The only reason I cared was because I was worried someone was gonna try to shoot by brains out. Thankfully no one did." Ellie said.

"For which we are all thankful. So got anymore crazy stories about my parents?"

They stayed up the rest of the night talking and when morning came they were surprised when Ryan came running into the kitchen.

"Last night *huff* what *huff* happened?" Ryan asked.

"You didn't sleep with Zed if that's what you mean." Ellie said.

"Oh… okay. I'm gonna go sleep in my own bed now." He said wandering away.

Ellie smiled and got up to make coffee. She and Cress watched as everyone started waking up. U, Terra and Syra walked out as a group they sat down and looked at Ellie.

"So…" Syra asked.

"No you didn't. Though you two looked so happy being under him we put you three together." Ellie said drinking her coffee.

The twins blushed while U got up and walked to his room. The next ones up were Zira and Zed. Zira was laughing as Zed wheeled her in looking embarrassed.

"I saw the two of you! Ask her what happened!" Zira cried pointing at Ellie.

Zed looked up and Ellie grinned.

"No you didn't." Ellie said.

Zed gave a sigh of relief while Zira looked disappointed.

Terra and Syra started cooking as Cress and Ellie watched Zira bug Zed with some very… imaginative situations. Jenny and Olette came out next and sat next to each other while leaning on the others shoulder. Cress and Ellie stared at them. They were both barely awake and keeping the other sitting upright.

"So… have a good night?" Cress asked.

"Mhmm." Olette said.

"We noticed. Who do you think was blocking you all night?" Ellie asked.

Olette perked up at that and looked at Ellie a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry you weren't the only ones. Your just the first ones up." Ellie said taking a sip of her coffee.

Olette buried her head in her arms on the table while Jenny looked at the two of them in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well we're all always connected to each other. In our Psi web. And high energy thoughts such as those you were both having last night get broadcasted. Unless you or someone else actively suppress them for you." Ellie explained.

Jenny processed that for a moment before her face went beet red.

"Hey it's better for only me to know than the entire colony." Ellie said.

Jenny joined Olette in burying her face in her arms. Terra and Syra finished cooking and slid a platter of pancakes into the table. As they were eating they heard someone yell from upstairs and a loud crash.

"Well Jace and Fiona just woke up." Cress said.

A few minutes later Jace came down stairs and sat at the table sporting a black eye. Everyone kept glancing over but no one said anything until Jace sighed.

"Alright Fiona gave me a black eye. After we both woke up." Jace said.

"Sorry buddy. If we'd known she would react like that we wouldn't have let you two go together last night." Ellie said.

"We went together? Oh god damn it." He said head butting the table.

"What's it matter? Not like you knew what you were doing." Ellie asked.

"Yeah but we still went together. Ugh." Jace said.

"Well it's a new day. Try again." Ellie said.

Jace grumbled but took a plate and some food. A little while later Ty and Sarah came down both stretching and yawning as they sat down.

"Hey lovebirds." Ellie said.

They both looked at her in question.

"You don't remember last night?" Ellie asked.

They both shook their heads and looked worried. Cress put a hand on each of their foreheads and showed them images of themselves the night before. When she stopped showing them they looked at each other and smiled.

"That explains that." Ty said.

"Guess it wasn't a prank." Sarah said with a shrug.

Ellie and Cress looked at them in confusion. Sarah laughed as she saw their faces.

"We thought you were pranking us. Does explain why I'm so sore though." She said.

"Sorry." Ty said.

"Ah it must've been fun big guy. Maybe next time we can remember it." Sarah said with a big smile.

Ty gave her a grin before getting some food.

"Maybe." He said.

The next people to come down were Zach and Melanie. They looked unaffected by the night before and Ellie laughed so hard she fell out of her chair.

"Trying to play it off like nothing happened. Please." Ellie said as she stood up.

Mel gave her an angry glare.

"I mean we could hear you two." Cress said nonchalantly.

Zach maintained his composure but Melanie looked mortified. She grabbed some food before quickly leaving.

"So that just leaves David and Scott." Ellie said.

"Scott will be sleeping until this afternoon. David will be up soon." Ty said.

Ellie shrugged and they started talking about everything from combat to downtime activities. Around mid afternoon Ellie left and hopped on a shuttle up to the Hyperion. She found Jim in the science holding a floating Protoss Crystal.

"What's up Jim?" She asked.

Jim looked over and sighed.

"An old friend of mine showed up and gave me this." Jim said gesturing to the crystal.

"Okay, what is it?" Ellie asked.

"A Protoss memory Crystal. He's always been Cryptic and he seemed like he was running from something. I guess this is supposed to show me what." Jim said.

"So just you or can anyone see what it says?" Ellie said.

"Anyone. Though whatever message he left will probably be for me." Jim said.

"Care if I see as well? Anything a Protoss is scared of warrants some concern." Ellie said.

"Be my guest." Jim said as he set the crystal down on a table.

They both stared at and after a moment the world around them faded…

**I know that I haven't updated in forever. But I refuse to abandon this story. I will always be working on this until I officially say it's over. That said, I don't want breaks like this to become common. So I will do my best to update as often as I can. But working as much as I do and trying to keep my social life make it hard to find time to sit down and write. If you have any feedback, suggestions or critiques by all means PM me or leave a review. And anyone who has a creative name for this new faction (Ellie, Alestra, Zach, Ryan, Olette etc.) pitch your ideas, I can always use inspiration. Until next time and thank you for your patience.**


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